Some people may notice chest tightness or cough, while others may not notice any effects. Because exercise requires faster, deeper breathing, it may increase the symptoms. People with heart disease, such as angina, or lung disease, such as asthma or emphysema, may be highly sensitive to exposure to air pollution and may have symptoms when others do not. Fortunately for most healthy people, the symptoms of air pollution exposure go away as soon as the air quality improves. However, certain groups of people are more sensitive to the effects of air pollution than others.
Children feel the effects of pollution at lower levels than adults.
They also have more illness, such as bronchitis and earaches, in areas of high pollution than in areas with cleaner air. People with heart or lung disease react more severely to polluted air. During times of heavy pollution, their condition may worsen to the point that they must limit their activities or even seek additional medical care. In the past, a number of deaths have been associated with severely polluted conditions. Today, pollution this bad is rare in the United States.