Agrocenoses Air Improvement For Longer and Healthier People Life

Abstract

In 2019, 99% of people in the world lived in areas violating WHO’s recommended air quality indicators. By WHO’s estimation, in 2019, air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide. The most harmful are PM2.5 particles, which penetrate the blood through the aerogematic barrier causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancer. PM10 can pass deeply into the lungs, but they are not so harmful. People always believed that rural air is healthy. Research at the University of Minnesota showed that 18 000 Americans die every year due to air pollution by agriculture, primarily, ammonia (NH 3) from the decomposition of fertilizers and livestock waste (12.4 thousand deaths), and PM2.5 particles (4.8 thousand deaths). In polluted areas, plants have more aggressive allergenic pollen. Agricultural waste management and optimization of landscapes are effective ways of solving the problem. In this work, solutions are proposed to improve the air safety of agrocenoses. Minimization of contact of waste with air and its utilisation as soon as possible allows for avoiding decomposition. Converting to gasification boilers/ovens avoids releasing PM2.5 by heating. In addition, plants capable of purifying the air from relevant pollutants should be introduced in agrocenoses. The places for planting are forest protection strips, free places near roads, residential and administrative buildings, etc. In particular, the use of hedges with such plants can provide a local oasis of clean air around houses. In the case of dense land use and lack of free space, it is possible to introduce “green structures” on buildings. An assortment of plants for different regions of Ukraine is offered.