The likelihood of having a stroke, heart disease, cancer or most other illnesses, whether related to environmental contaminants or not, increases after age 65. The way a woman has treated her body her whole life and the environmental contaminants she has been exposed to can affect her health and well-being in her later years.
• It is normal for people’s immune systems to grow weaker as they age, but a lifetime of exposure to environmental contaminants may further suppress an older woman’s immune system.seniors
• Many women become less active as they age, which can lead to spending more time indoors and increase the chance of being exposed to indoor air pollutants. Effects from smoking or using cleaners and pesticides can be magnified if most of a woman’s time is spent indoors in a poorly ventilated room.
• Exposure to outdoor air pollution can also pose significant risk to older adults. For example, particle pollution and ozone (from car and other industrial emissions) may aggravate lung diseases.
Resources
Environmental Protection Agency’s Age Healthier Breath Easier factsheet
Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Factors Weigh Heavy on the Heart factsheet
Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging by Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and Science and Environmental Health Network