What are air pollutants?

Air pollutants are tiny invisible guests that come into our air and can make it harder for us to breathe or see clearly.

Imagine you're playing in a park on a sunny day. Suddenly, the sky starts looking gray, and your eyes start to feel scratchy. That’s when air pollutants are hanging around, like tiny invisible friends who don’t always behave nicely.

Air pollutants can be like dust or smoke that you see when you're cooking or burning leaves in the backyard. Some of them are so small, they’re like the specks of dirt you find on your shoes after a long walk, only these specks float inside the air we breathe.

Sometimes, these invisible guests come from cars, factories, or even the fire you light to keep warm during winter. They can make the air feel thick and hard to breathe, just like when you're trying to blow out birthday candles through a straw full of cotton candy.

If there are too many of them around, they might even start making people cough or feel sick, kind of like how your throat feels after eating too much lemon candy.