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Showing posts from February, 2021

Toxic effects of particulate matter on human health

Air pollution : A silent killer. We are all exposed to air pollution on a regular basis. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that at least 9 in 10 people globally breathe air containing pollutants that exceed levels stipulated in WHO guidelines. The WHO also estimates that indoor and outdoor (ambient) air pollution kills at least 7 million people worldwide every single year. Those are scary numbers, which make you wonder why alot is not being done to drastically improve the quality of air we breathe. Outdoor or ambient air pollution is estimated to cause 4.2 million deaths globally every year. Most deaths from outdoor air pollution is primarily due to exposure to particulate matter (PM) in the air. Particulate matter is a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air. The major components of particulate matter include ammonia, black carbon, mineral dust, sulfates and wa

Viral Mutations and Implications for COVID-19 Vaccines

The world is still reeling from the impact of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) which has caused over a million deaths globally, with millions more infected. The economic consequences of COVID-19 have been just as severe. Many countries have shut down entire industries, millions of people have been laid off from their jobs and are unable to cater for themselves and their families. Trading within and between nations has slowed down to a trickle although things are beginning to pick up. Some experts opine that it would take a few years for the world to fully recover from the economic and social effects of the pandemic. There is indeed a good chance that some aspects of the society may have been altered forever. As the death toll from COVID-19 rose however,so did the resolve of researchers and health professionals around the world. They were, and are still searching for the quickest and safest solutions to this publ