On high-ozone days, asthma is the leading cause of admissions at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, as it is at Cleveland's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and MetroHealth Medical Center. It can be breathed into the lungs, creating cardiac and respiratory problems and premature deaths. Nitrogen oxide contributes to ozone pollution on hot, humid, stagnant days. It causes breathing problems for the elderly, children and asthmatics. Asthma is on the increase and air pollution is contributing to that increase, according to medical experts.
Mercury can cause an array of neurological and developmental problems in infants and children.
Pregnant women and their unborn children are also at risk. It is a concern where fish is a major part of families' diets. Mercury is an especially troublesome pollutant. One drop can pollute a 25-acre lake. It moves up the food ladder.