Febreze, Raid, and Dust Off are just a few brands most notable for their aerosol can packaging and usage. In fact, most people do not think twice about using any of these products simply because they probably do not know their harmful effects.
“Aerosols: Small Particles with Big Climate Effects,” an article authored by NASA researchers, concluded that aerosols are particles in the air that either warm or cool the environment around them, depending on the contents of the particles. Whether it’s volcanic ash, sea spray or man-made air pollution, any of these can be classified as a climate-changing aerosol.
Though most of the aerosols in the air don’t even come directly from aerosol cans, considering the impact naturally occurring aerosols have an effect on the environment, it is clear artificial aerosols can make critical changes to the environment. A study from the Yale School of Environment titled “How Aerosols Affect our Climate,” concluded that aerosols, with their cooling effects on the environment, are masking the full warming effects of greenhouse gases around the globe. The unit change for aerosols is larger than greenhouse gases on the surface temperature because of their higher concentration areas on the planet.
The medical community has been aware that artificial aerosols with day-to-day use are also known to cause medical problems. According to the World Health Organization, and the air pollution they create leads to the deaths of over 7 million people (nearly the entire population of New York) across the globe per year. Tiny particles inhaled from aerosols can cause respiratory infections, asthma, heart disease, and even lung cancer. By curbing the usage of aerosols, it is entirely possible to prevent illnesses and deaths caused by aerosols.
A few but effective ways to stop using as many aerosols as possible in the home and day-to-day life is to seek out other alternatives to aerosols, minimize waste, and learn how to properly use aerosols. Other alternatives could include refillable containers that use compressed air as propellants or use aerosols containing non-hazardous particles. To know if an aerosol contains hazardous material, there should be warning labels on the containers themselves, classifying the chemicals as flammable. To minimize waste, learn how to recycle aerosols, make sure to use all the product within an aerosol before buying new, and use only as much as needed at one time.
Aerosols have potentially catastrophic effects on the environment if they continue to be unmitigated, but if humans can learn to curb our daily dependence on these particles, they could be saving themselves a lot of trouble in the future.
