As carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and a host of other pollutants flow into the atmosphere from exhaust pipes and industrial smokestacks each day, the American Lung Association labors to improve the lives of millions of human beings.
Over its 105-year history, the American Lung Association has pioneered the first tuberculosis research efforts, collaborated with the EPA to tighten the national air quality standards, and worked with the FDA to regulate tobacco products - and that’s just the beginning.
The American Lung Association’s newest accomplishment was publishing its tenth annual State of the Air report. “This report always gets attention because we translate complicated air pollution information into terms that are much easier to understand for the lay audience and because we rank cities by their pollution,” says Janice Nolan, Assistant Vice President of the ALA’s National Policy and Advocacy branch.
But what were the findings? While long-term levels of air pollution have been declining since 1980, “we are concerned that some areas have seen their levels increasing over the last few years,” says Nolen. A few of the findings, however, remain inconclusive. “There may be cases of lung cancer or COPD from traffic exhaust, but we have not seen enough evidence yet to say conclusively how much impact it has - and actions like smoking cause the lion's share of those types of diseases.”
Nolen also suggests a number of actions individuals can take to reduce their personal carbon emissions. “They can let elected officials know that they support steps to clean up pollution in their community. They can join us in sending messages to the EPA to tell them we want cleaner air.”
The American Lung Association began more than a century ago as the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the first nationwide voluntary health organization aimed at conquering a specific disease. Since then, it has been active in supporting a number of legislative and Supreme Court measures. In 1990, the ALA fought to strengthen the amendments set forth in the Clean Air Act of 1970, and followed with multiple legal actions to force the Environmental Protection Agency to review and tighten the national air quality standards. Just in February 2009, the ALA won a lawsuit that required the EPA to review the particle standards adopted in a 2006 Congressional measure.
There has been a lot for the American Lung Association to do over the past few decades, but its employees value their jobs based on their accomplishments. “I never question why I go to work each day. I can see the impact of our work. I feel honored to be able to fight for the air we breathe in a place that helps, quite literally, to save lives,” says Nolen.
Written by Chadwick Prichard.
www.antipollutionrevolutioncampaign.blogspot.com.
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