The Importance of Air Quality (and Air Quality Assessments) in Environmental Impact Assessments

Air quality plays a pivotal role in any environmental impact assessments, as it affects a plethora of areas – from health to economics, all of which undergo scrutiny in these processes. In this article, we focus on the former and explain the importance of air quality and air quality assessment in evaluating the effects of governmental projects on health. We encourage you to read on.

Table of Contents

• The Effect of Air Quality on Health
• The Importance of Air Quality in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process
• The Takeaway

Key Points:

• High air pollution levels increase the frequency and duration of intensive care hospitalizations.
• Chemical pollutants in the air are linked to mental health issues, including depression and dementia.
• Poor air quality weakens human immune systems, making populations more vulnerable to various diseases.
• Environmental impact assessments must translate air quality changes into specific health and socio-economic costs.
• Comprehensive project evaluation requires analyzing the long-term impact of pollution on healthcare spending and productivity.

The Effect of Air Quality on Health

To fully comprehend the importance of air quality in the environmental impact assessments, you need to understand the impact of air pollution on human health. Low air quality may lead to a number of problems, including:

• Prolonged hospital stays – According to recent studies, high air pollution increases the need for intensive care and hospitalisation. To add to that, it makes regular hospital stays longer, as people exposed to low-quality air need more time to fight off diseases. You can read more about it in our article: Air pollution prolongs hospital stays. Here’s how air quality monitoring can help.
• A rise in the number of mental illnesses – The pollutants in the air are composed of chemicals that affect human brains and can cause several mental illnesses, including depression or dementia. We have covered this topic in our article on air pollution and mental health, which we strongly recommend if you wish to learn more.
• Weaker immunity – Air pollution weakens the human immune system, making your citizens more vulnerable to illnesses and diseases and thus lifting healthcare costs.
• Respiratory diseases – Last but not least, low air quality causes respiratory diseases.

The Importance of Air Quality in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process

Having a deep understanding of the impact of air quality on health, we may now delve into the importance of air quality in environmental impact assessment. This should now be quite straightforward.

Every project has to be evaluated based on its impact on air quality. If it affects it negatively, the increase in air pollution needs to be evaluated along with the potential health problems that it may cause. This then has to be translated into socio-economic impact: the rise in healthcare costs, the increase in sick leaves, etc. Only then can governments see the full picture.

The Takeaway

Knowing the importance of air quality in environmental impact assessment, you are now well aware that evaluating and monitoring the content of air pollutants in the air is a must. If you wish to improve these processes in your jurisdiction, check our solutions for governments – see how we can help you.