Sentence:  If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the...hazards of gasoline cars: air and water <WSD>pollution</WSD>, noise and noxiousness, constant coughing and the undeniable rise in cancers caused by smoke exhaust particulates. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc. (from 18th c.)