Air pollution is one of the most common public health concerns of our time. At this point, almost everyone knows that it is bad for respiratory health and the environment, but there’s much more to the picture than meets the eye. In practically every area of life, air pollution has effects that recent research has brought to light. Here are five of the strangest negative effects of air pollution you probably weren’t aware of.
 Reducing Worker Productivity
As unrelated as office productivity and air pollution may sound, studies have shown that there is a strong connection. Workers in every type of working environment, from factories to farms to high-rise office buildings, are less productive when air pollution levels are higher. The exact mechanism that produces this connection isn’t yet known, but it is a cause for concern among businesses of all sorts.
 Increasing School Absenteeism
Another of the negative effects of air pollution that is usually overlooked is its ability to increase school absenteeism. Studies have shown that ozone exposure is responsible for children missing more days of school per year. This, in turn, can have negative effects on educational outcomes.
 Damaging Building Materials
The negative effects of air pollution don’t just apply to your body. Building materials are also subject to increased wear and damage when exposed to certain types of pollution. Pollutants deposited on buildings can increase corrosion and cause damage over time. At the moment, no hard estimates of the total cost per year of this damage exist. However, universities and organizations are working on methods to quantify the overall damage.
 Jeopardizing Agriculture
Believe it or not, air pollution may be slowly putting the world’s food supply at risk. Staple crops, especially wheat and soybeans, have been shown to be quite sensitive to ozone exposure. This fact may render such crops susceptible to output reduction as air pollution levels continue to rise.
 Reducing Water Quality
A final surprising twist on the negative effects of air pollution is the fact that pollutants in the air can easily work their way into water. When rain falls, it can pick up contaminants from air pollution and transfer them into water resources. In this way, pollutants put into the air can become water pollution.
These are just a few of the negative effects of air pollution that most people aren’t even aware of. From health to food to economic productivity, air pollution has consequences in almost every area of our lives. If you want to protect yourself from air pollution, a home air purifier is a solution you should definitely look into. For offices and work facilities, there are also commercial air purification systems that will keep your employees healthy and productive.