ironmental pollution in the 1950s and 1960s. It was not simply that the air and water were polluted. Rather, it was because such pollution was being ever increasingly linked to serious human health problems.
The air pollution concerns over environmental health may be illustrated by the situation that existed in Massachusetts. Bronchus and lung cancer were major public health problems in the state. Among males, lung cancer was the most prevalent form of cancer in the state, with over 20 percent of all cancers in men being in this group. The incidence of bronchus and lung cancer in Massachusetts was linked to environmental factors. One of these factors was sulfur dioxide in the air. Sulfur dioxide is a major air pollutant. Sulfur dioxide enters the air through the combustion of coal, oil, and other fuels. Public utility company operations are major contributors to the introduction of sulfur dioxide into the air. Ozone and moisture in the air can convert sulfur dioxide into sulfates and sulfuric acid, each of which has been linked to bronchus and lung cancer. A second environmental factor was the suspension of particulates in the air, a major air pollution source also been implicated in the incidence of bronchus and lung cancer. Suspended particulates also result from some public utility company operations. A third implicated environmental factor was oxidant air pollution. Oxidant, in this instance, refers to oxides of nitrogen that are emitted into the air through automobile tailpipes and industrial smokestacks, including those associated with public utility company operations. Nitrogen oxides are a major air pollutant linked to bronchus and lung cancer.
The factors discussed above provided strong motivations for the federal government in the United States to enact legislation designed to protect the quality of the air. The Clean Air Act was implemented at the federal level in the United States in 1970.
One of t...