SAN ANTONIO — As cities grow, the amount of air pollution typically grows along with them. That's especially the case for a rapidly growing city like San Antonio.
And poor air quality doesn't only affect our breathing, but our skin too.
Clean air is essential for our health, environmental sustainability and socioeconomic development. But air pollution remains a significant challenge, including here in San Antonio.
"Pollutants can affect our skin health," said Glory Dolphin Hammes, IQAir North America's CEO. "Because exactly for the same reasons, when we ingest allergens, when we actually come into physical contact with these contaminants, it will have an effect on our skin and our skin health."
How could it damage our skin health? For many, through rashes.
"There may not necessarily be rashes, but there may be just a reaction to that particular substance within the body overall," Hammes said. "Other ways air pollution may affect your skin is through premature aging, photodamage, atopic dermatitis, skin cancers and, every teenager's nightmare, acne."
IQ Air has a free air quality app so you can track pollutants day by day and hour by hour. As we head into the warmer months, that pollution starts to build.
"Our air quality app allows people to see quantitatively exactly how clean and how dirty the air is," Hammes said.
And by knowing just how polluted the air is, Hammes says, "You can plan and ultimately reduce your levels of pollution by mitigating strategies that help you to avoid the pollutants that are in the air."
Doctors say there are many over-the-counter skin products to protect your skin from air pollution that act much like sunscreen. Those include:
- Dr. Barbara Sturm's "Anti-Protection Food"
Live Probioltic Skin Care's "Daily Defense Moisturizer"
Fiber Skin Care's "Anti-Wrinkle Nanofiber Face Mask"
To learn more about IQAir products, head to their website here.
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