The Magnificent Effort for Clean Air by Will Harlan

Air Pollution's Effects on Athletes

by Abby Hylton

Introduction

Will Harlan had never had an asthma attack. As the editor of the magazine
Blueridge Outdoors, Mr. Harlan was aware of air pollution issues involving
outdoor recreation. As the three-time winner of the Mount Mitchell
challenge, he was used to running long distances, and he was not asthmatic.
On July 19th of last year, Mr. Harlan ran seventy-two miles on the
Appalachian trail for a clean air run to raise the awareness of air
pollution in the Smokies. His wife dropped him off at the beginning and met
him at certain check-points. On one of the highest mountains along the
Appalachian Trail, Mr. Harlan didn't realize he was having an asthma attack
until three hours after he'd started having symptoms of asthma. Before,
he'd thought that his wheezing and lightheadedness were from the high
elevation of the mountain (Harlan 1-3).
The asthma attack slowed his running down, and he had to find on of the
shelters along the Appalachian Trail in the dark. Three hikers at the
shelter lent Mr. Harlan a sheet to sleep in. He finished the run the next
day. During this time his wife had not known what had happened to him. She
had to spend the night at a shelter three miles from where he had spent the
night at a different shelter, where three men lent her blankets and a pad.
Mr. Harlan found out later from doctors that the high level of air pollution
had triggered the asthma attack (Harlan 3 & 4).
There is a common assumption that the mountains have cleaner, fresher air
than other places. However, this is not true. Mr. Harlan and his wife
Emily Diznoff, a family practice physician, runner, and board member of the
Canary Coalition‹ a clean air advocacy group in the mountains, moved from
Atlanta to Asheville. Hoping that the air pollution levels in the mountains
would not be as bad as they were in Atlanta, they were discouraged when they
found out otherwise. "Air pollution here in western North Carolina is just
as bad as Atlanta's," Mr. Harlan said (Interview Will Harlan).
Air pollution is such a big problem that pretty much no place in the
country is left unaffected by it (Otis and Goldingay 1). Even areas that
aren't used much by the public are affected, because wind disperses
pollution and wind goes everywhere (Kahl 9, Abelsohn paragraph 7).
Pollution is the result of chemical reactions in the air, car emissions,
industrial emissions, combustions, and smoking. Pollution comes in
different forms: ozone, smog, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide,
particulates, and carbon monoxide, all of these caused by one or more of the
pollutants above (Kahl 1, Baines 31, Unatrributed- Laurence Berkeley
National Laboratory 3, Otis and Goldingay 1 & 3, and Miller & Berry 20-21).
Pollution is bad for humans and animals in general because of how much
pollution is in the air. When anyone breathes in, they inhale a large
amount of air pollution. Mouth breathers are vulnerable because they
breathe through their mouths and not their noses, and noses are the body's
principle filtering systems. Pregnant women's babies are also vulnerable to
the effects of their mothers' inhalation of carbon monoxide (Unattributed-
American Lung Association 1).
When athletes exercise, they breathe more often and more deeply than
others, so they increase their chances of health damage from pollutants.
When they exercise, they increase their intake of air by as much as ten
times their regular level. Endurance athletes can breathe as much as twenty
times their usual intake. When athletes breathe while they are exercising,
they tend to breathe through their mouths instead of their noses.
Therefore, when they train, they increase contact with pollutants which
makes them vulnerable to damaging health conditions (Unattributed- American
Lung Association 1).
To an athlete trying to train for a competition, pollution is a big
problem. When pollution levels are too high, it is impossible for athletes
to get a proper training session in and perform their best. Why? Pollution
exacerbates or creates health effects among runners and hikers, affects an
athlete's performance, and affects an athlete's training schedule.

Pollution Exacerbates Or Creates Health Effects Among Runners And Hikers
Pollution triggers asthma as well as other health damaging conditions. It
causes various irritations, allergic reactions, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
Chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, ischemia, and
damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys are also results of long-term
exposure to air pollution (Kahl 1, Baines 31, Unattributed- Laurence
Berkeley National Laboratory 1 & 3, Otis and Goldingay 1 & 3, Silverstein,
Silverstein & Silverstein 63, Unattributed- American Lung Association 1).
Aside from causing all of these diseases, air pollution can also aggravate
emphysema and asthma for asthmatic athletes (Silverstein, Silverstein, and
Silverstein 63).
There are many causes of asthma, and air pollution is one of the worst
among these causes. However, air pollution is not widely recognized in its
role of causing asthma (Thurston and Bates paragraph 2). Although he was
not asthmatic and he'd never before in his life had an asthma attack (Harlan
3), Will Harlan had one while he was running. Since he was not asthmatic,
this attack shows that pollution doesn't just create asthma attacks for
asthmatics and aggravate their symptoms.

Diseases and Symptoms Caused by Pollution
Asthma is caused by car exhaust (Baines 31) and smog (Miller & Berry
20-21). Asthma can be aggravated by sulfur dioxide, but usually asthmatics
are the ones who are most affected by sulfur dioxide (Otis and Goldingay 3).
Particulates usually don't cause asthma, but they can result in an increase
of coughing for asthmatics.
Ischemia is a pollution-caused disease linked to particulates (Pekkanen
paragraphs 17 & 25). Your blood flows through your arteries, carrying
oxygen to every part of your body. Sometimes a type of plaque builds up
along the sides of your arteries, and sometimes this plaque builds up too
much. Thus the amount of blood able to flow through your arteries lessens
and your body has a lack of oxygen. This is ischemia (Interview Joel Hylton
MD).
Some people have a lot of plaque buildup, and this plaque plus exercise can
cause ischemia. In others, however, the plaque buildup is not high enough
so that plaque plus exercise will cause ischemia. But the combination of
plaque buildup, exercise, and pollution will cause ischemia (Interview Joel
Hylton, MD).
Ischemia usually affects older people (Interview Joel Hylton, MD). As more
and more older people are beginning to exercise (Tyre paragraph 2), this
could become a serious problem. Numbers of people 55 years of age and older
buying memberships to health clubs increased from 1.9 million in 1990 to 7.4
million in 2000 (Tyre paragraph 2). Although they are purchasing
memberships to indoor health clubs, I think that this would also mean that
elderly people are also exercising outside. This would lead to the fact
that older people are increasing their exposure to air pollution, which
means they are increasing their risk of ischemia.
Older people are exercising in order to prevent heart disease. While they
are doing this, they are also increasing their contact with air pollution,
and thus are more susceptible to ischemia. This can be so frustrating
because they're exercising to prevent one disease, and increasing the
probability of getting another.

Pollution That Causes Diseases And Symptoms
Car exhaust, besides causing asthma, can cause other diseases. These are
bronchitis, lung cancer, and emphysema (Kahl 28). It also creates
short-term symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, and drowsiness (Kahl 28).
Ozone can aggravate asthma (Miller and Berry 20-21), but it usually doesn't
cause diseases. Instead it creates short-term symptoms, such as chest
tightness, eye irritation, sore throat, wheezing, coughing, breathing
problems, and headaches (Kahl 28, Becklake 12).
Little is known about nitrogen dioxide, but it has been linked with sulfur
dioxide to cause lung dysfunction in asthmatics (Abelsohn paragraph 12, Otis
and Goldingay 3). Otherwise, it has been shown to cause slight respiratory
dysfunction through damage to the lower respiratory tract (Otis and
Goldingay 3).
Carbon monoxide enters the body through the lungs, but unlike other
pollutants, it doesn't affect them. It goes straight to the bloodstream,
attaching itself to hemoglobin in red blood cells, replacing the oxygen that
is usually carried there, reducing the amount of oxygen available to the
body. This reduction of oxygen affects the heart and brain mostly. Carbon
monoxide also creates short-term symptoms. They are headaches and an
increase of chest pain (Otis and Goldingay 3-4).
Particulates, like nitrogen dioxide, can be responsible for damaging the
airways of the lower respiratory tract (Abelsohn paragraph 6). Through
respiratory dysfunctions, Particulates have caused hospital admissions and
even some deaths (Abelsohn paragraph 17). Particulates can be mainly caused
by the combustion of fossil fuels and car exhaust, as well as other human
activity. Particulates may change heart rate, blood coagulability and
viscosity, blood pressure, and bone marrow response (Abelsohn paragraph
11).

Particulates and Smog
Particulates and smog are also worse during rush hours, when people are
going to work in the mornings and coming from work in the evenings
(Unattributed- American Lung Association 1). There are so many cars
congesting the highways and roads, and all of those cars are burning gas,
causing a high level of car exhaust. This can enable particulates to react
with ozone to create smog, which causes asthma (Miller and Berry 20-21).

Sensitivity
Some people are more sensitive to pollutants than other people are. People
with asthma, heart disease, or lung disease may suffer more than others from
high levels of pollution. Usually, the extent to which a person is affected
by pollution depends on the duration of the training session and the
concentration of the pollutants in the air (Unattributed- Laurence Berkeley
National Laboratory 1).

Pollution Affects an Athlete's Performance
All of these diseases and symptoms affect how an athlete performs. Air
pollution can leave them breathless and dizzy, causing them to stop and rest
more often. Since they are exercising, athletes breathe in deeply, and
sometimes air pollution causes it to hurt when they breathe in (Harlan 2,
Unattributed- American Lung Association 1).

Slowing Down From Symptoms
Asthma attacks can cause hyperventilation, lightheadedness, wheezing, and
dizziness (Harlan 2 & 3). This might force asthmatics to slow down and
stop, and if they are smart, use their inhalers. However, inhalers might
not even work then. If athletes are suffering depletion of oxygen from
carbon monoxide, even athletes that aren't asthmatic would have to slow down
and possibly stop.
Will Harlan's asthma attack occurred near Clingmans Dome, the highest
elevation along the Appalachian Trail. Before he suffered this attack, he
had been running at a good pace with some friends. Once he started wheezing
and feeling lightheaded, he slowed down and had to stop frequently and drink
large amounts of water. Mr. Harlan had to stop for the night at one of the
shelters along the trail and finish the run the next morning when he felt
better (Harlan 1-5).

Adaptation
Studies have shown that healthy lungs are able to adapt to smog, and
perhaps protect themselves from its effects. Some people have less severe
symptoms after 2-7 days of exposure, but others like asthmatics and
sensitive people might take a longer time to adapt to the conditions (Otis
and Goldingay 2).

Mountainous Areas
If they are performing in the mountains, athletes may have trouble with
high pollution levels. This is because of temperature inversion.
Temperature inversion happens when air close to the earth is cooler than the
air above the earth. Pollution can't rise and be dispersed when this
occurs. This is a problem especially in cities surrounded by mountains.
Temperature inversions occurring in the winter usually cause particulate and
carbon monoxide pollution while temperature inversions during the summer
usually create smog (Unattributed- Laurence Berkeley National Laboratory 2).

Sunny
Air pollution is usually the worst in the afternoon and on sunny days
(Unattributed- American Lung Association 1). Often athletes have
competitions during this time. Even though air pollution is a serious
problem, people often overlook it and the times when it is worst. They
schedule athletic events on sunny days during the day, so athletes must
compete in the time of day when pollution is at its worst (Unattributed-
American Lung Association 1).
I am a swimmer, and in the summer I compete in outdoor swim meets, usually
during the afternoon. So I compete in exactly the worst time to compete, in
the afternoon and in the sun, during the time that pollution levels are
highest. Usually my parents don't look into the pollution levels. My coach
doesn't either, and this would be helpful if either he or my parents looked
into the pollution levels.

Levels of Pollution
If ozone concentration is less than 0.12 ppm, then it is not much of a
problem and athletes are not as affected by it. However, if the
concentration is over 0.12 ppm, it is considered unhealthy for healthy
adults to exercise outdoors. Nitrogen dioxide is found not to be harmful
for outdoor exercise at 0.5-1.0 ppm, but it is found to be dangerous at 1.0
ppm or over (Otis and Goldingay 2 & 3).

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the nation's most visited
national parks. But the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is also one of
the most air-polluted parks in the country, so maybe they really are smoky
(Zink 1). Mountains are considered to have fresh, clean air, but in
reality, mountains are affected by air pollution.
Although SUVs are big cars and convenient for some families, they eat up
gas at an alarming rate. What happens to all that guzzled gas? It not only
come out of the SUVs as car emissions, but it comes out as a large amount of
car emissions. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is filled with these
SUVs as well as motorcycles, other cars, and tour buses. Besides this, the
traffic in the park usually moves at a slow pace, because people drive
slowly and stop, drive slowly and stop. All this time the car motors are
still running, causing more car emissions, which enhances the ozone
pollution (Zink 1).
Hikers and runners visit the Great Smoky National Park frequently (Zink 1).
Of course, some of them may drive one of the huge SUVs, and they are
endangering themselves with their own cars! These athletes are exposed to
all of this car exhaust made by the heavy traffic. Since they are breathing
hard, they are admitting more of the harmful chemicals into their bodies.
Some of them are lucky and don't experience asthma attacks, but others may
not be so lucky and may be inclined to stop their training and go home.

Pollution's Affects an Athlete's Training Schedule
Normally it is most convenient for athletes, whether they are competing in
indoor or outdoor sports, to train in the afternoon. However, this can be a
big problem when the pollution levels are at their worst, especially since
the pollution levels reach their peak around the afternoon. So when the
pollution levels are high, athletes must arrange their training schedule
around the pollution levels.
I swim in the mornings at five thirty a.m., so normally, I can avoid
training while pollution levels are high. I swim indoors, except for in the
summer, when I swim mostly outdoors, so I really don't have to arrange my
training schedule around the pollution levels.

Training Times
In terms of pollution levels, it is best for athletes to train in the
morning or in the evening. If they work later into the evening, they get
home, eat, and most likely have some things to do before getting to bed.
This could keep them up pretty late, and it is hard to get to bed late and
then get up early in the morning, early enough to get a training session in,
shower, and be at work on time. Part of training for a competition is
staying healthy, getting enough sleep, and eating well (Interview Joel
Hylton, MD).
To stay healthy, athletes need to get their sleep and eat well. Going to
bed late and then getting up around five in the morning isn't exactly
getting enough sleep. So if they're not getting enough sleep, its not
considered healthy.

Two Sessions Per Day
Some athletes need to get more than one work out in a day. One in the
evening and one in the morning doesn't necessarily sound bad, but once they
get up in the morning, they might be sore from the past evening's work-out.
Training sessions so close together are not so easy.
Last year, My coach had me swimming two practices a day. I swam in the
mornings and then again around three-thirty. If this was hard on me to do
practices in the mornings and afternoon, imagine how hard it would be for
athletes to go to bed late at night, get up in the morning, and then
practice later in the evening and not in the afternoon.
Sometimes athletes need that afternoon time to train. But if the pollution
levels are too high, it can be impossible, and besides that it can be
unhealthy. So they must arrange their schedules around the conditions
outside.

Difficulty in Finding Training Areas
In the mornings, rush hour traffic makes it difficult to exercise. Runners
who exercise in the mornings shouldn't run near roads, as all the car
emissions will affect them. So they have to plan where they can run, away
from congested streets (Unattributed- American Lung Association 1).
Pollution from car emissions can linger up to fifty feet from the road
(Unattributed- American Lung Association 1). Athletes training during rush
hour traffic, while the streets are more congested, should find somewhere
that they can run fifty feet from roads, which means no running in town and
no running near well-trafficked areas.

Will Harlan and His Training Schedule
Will Harlan is one of these athletes that has to arrange their training
schedules around the pollution level. Mr. Harlan says that once it starts
getting warmer‹ ozone levels are highest from mid-April to mid-September
(Interview Will Harlan, Unattributed- American Lung Association 1)‹ he has
to rearrange his training schedule around the pollution level. He says that
he tries to run more in the mornings. "It's frustrating," says Mr. Harlan.
"Going outside to play shouldn't be so dangerous." (Interview Will Harlan)

Morning Training vs. Evening Training
Athletes who can't exercise in the mornings must exercise in the evenings.
Although evening training sessions are better than afternoon training
sessions, the air pollution during that time is still worse than during the
morning training sessions (Interview Will Harlan). In the evenings,
athletes can run into all the pollution that was made during the day.
However, it is not as bad as in the afternoon because typically the
temperature drops during the evening when the sun sets and the moon rises.

Seasons
Athletes must arrange their schedules around the seasons. Depending on
which season it is, pollution levels can be higher or they can be lower.
Summer is the worst time for smog, since it is usually hot and sunny in the
summer (Unattributed- Laurence Berkeley National Laboratory 3).
Ozone is one of the principal exposures to pollution. It is caused by the
action of sunlight on nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons from car exhaust.
Ozone levels are usually highest on in the afternoons and on sunny days
(Otis and Goldingay 1).
Smog comes in two types: summer smog and winter smog. Summer smog is
mainly made out of ground level ozone and particulates. Winter smog is
mainly made up of particulates and sulfur dioxide. Winter smog doesn't
contain ozone because ozone is usually not at high levels when there is cold
weather (Unattributed- Laurence Berkeley National Laboratory 3).
Smog is dispersed by wind, and can be blown away long distances. Even
though smog is thought to be worst in metropolitan areas, the levels of smog
can be just as high in rural areas. The weather, temperature, and location
have a part in this, as well as wind. Smog can be easily trapped in the
mountains. In the summer, smog is easily enhanced by the level of ozone,
which can be linked to the amount of particulates in the air (Unattributed-
Laurence Berkeley National Association 2).

Conclusion
In this paper, I have conducted research to back up my proposition. I have
found evidence by means of anecdotes, which is only one person's story, and
may not compare to the other evidence I have used. I have used expert
opinions, medical and atmospheric research conducted by scientists. I have
also used experimental evidence. Thus I have found that air pollution does
create medical conditions, affect performance, and affect training
schedules. However, there are things that athletes can do to avoid
pollution.

Do's and Don't's
1. Exercise in the morning or evening, preferably the morning
(Unattributed- American Lung Association 1).
2. Exercise away from windy places. Wind disperses pollution (Otis and
Goldingay 4).
3. If having to compete in smoggy areas, arrive 2-7 days earlier to adapt
to conditions, depending on sensitivity to air pollution (Otis and Goldingay
4).
4. Avoid strenuous outdoor exercise when pollution levels are high
(Unattributed- American Lung Association 1).
5. Don't exercise in the midday or afternoon times (Unattributed- American
Lung Association 1).
6. Don't exercise near congested streets. Pollution levels can be up to
fifty feet from the highway or road (Unattributed- American Lung Association
1).
7. Don't exercise when the ozone level is over 0.2 ppm per hour (Otis and
Goldingay 4).

Advice?
Pollution levels can be adapted to in a certain number of days, so if you
are going out of town for a competition or are on vacation and need to train
during that time, check pollution levels. Pollution levels can usually be
found published in a local newspaper (Otis and Goldingay 3). If the
pollution levels there are high, you'll need to arrive before a competition
several days early if possible. This will give you some time to adapt to
conditions in order to perform better.

Wrap-up
Pollution minorly affects the health of athletes when the concentration of
pollution in the air is lower. On the other hand, when the concentration of
pollution in the air is higher, pollution can majorly affect and athlete's
health. Depending on how much air pollution athletes have been exposed to,
their performance can be affected more or less. Pollution levels can create
a rift for athletes in their typical training session schedule.
However, some athletes don't know how bad pollution is for them. Lots of
them don't know to check the pollution levels. It is desirable that they
should know so that they can arrange their schedules according to the
pollution concentration. To let the general public know about this, people
concerned about air pollution need to get organizations such as a sports,
anti-pollution, or medical organizations to have public awareness or ad
campaigns.
A way to contact these groups is to talk to them personally, write them
letters and e-mails, or join the organizations. Then we could inform the
general public, coaches, and parents of athletes about the air pollution
problem in Western North Carolina.

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