How Air Pollution Can Damage the Heart

from Time Magazine

Sitting in traffic can certainly be infuriating enough to raise your blood pressure. But new research shows that traffic can raise your blood pressure and put your heart at risk in a more direct way — by exposing you to the pollution in exhaust fumes...

The new findings, published in the journal Hypertension, offers a potentially new understanding of how pollutants can affect the heart.

More at http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1921080,00.html

New federal study: traffic pollution kills people with respiratory problems

There’s a new study in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives (published by a branch of the federal Department of Health and Human Services) which is perhaps worth a gander. See link below.

Basically, scientists found increased death among people with respiratory disease who were exposed to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide pollution in Toronto.

This is further evidence that current air quality standards for this pollutant need to be made tougher. The current standard was set in 1971 (!)

The US EPA reported last year that exposure to nitrogen dioxide – even at levels below current standards – increased the risk of hospital admissions.

The agency is under a court order to review the current national air standards for nitrogen dioxide and propose its results by June 26.

http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2009/11533/abstract.html

The Journal Nature: Time Running Out to Deal With Global Warming

The world must burn less than one-quarter of its remaining fossil fuel reserves if it is to avoid dangerous climate change, according to new research.

Two studies published today in the journal Nature warn that the world must limit its total carbon dioxide emissions to about 1 trillion tons by 2050 to have the best chance at holding temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.

That's the target identified by some scientists and many governments that believe warming beyond that point could greatly increase the chance of catastrophic -- and in some cases, irreversible -- changes in the world's climate.

The bottom line is simple, said Myles Allen of Oxford University, the lead author of one of the new studies. "Every ton [of carbon dioxide] you release now is a ton you won't be able to release in 50 years' time," he said. "The longer we postpone emissions reductions, the harder we make the task when the time comes around."

To stay under that 1 trillion ton limit, governments would have to sharply reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from current levels. Malte Meinshausen, lead author of one study, said the world's total CO2 emissions could reach 1 trillion tons in just 20 years.


If no climate policies are implemented (red), global warming will cross 2 degrees Celsius by the middle of the century. Strong action to mitigate emissions (blue) would limit the risk of exceeding 2 degrees to 25 percent. Graph courtesy of M. Meinshausen.

"We've already emitted a third of that in the past nine years, from 2000 to 2009," explained Meinshausen, a professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

And Meinshausen's study suggests the true "carbon dioxide budget" could be even lower if the warming effects of other greenhouse gases, such as methane, are taken into account.

But even achieving the limit recommended by the new studies isn't a guarantee that the world will avoid serious climate change, experts said.

More at:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7242/full/4581077a.html

A foetus suffers from a mother's bad air

8th October 2008

Babies exposed to air pollution in the womb have to breathe faster to get more oxygen in their lungs, according to research confirmed that air pollution can damage a child's lungs before birth.

more at:

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=520582

Air pollution linked to blood clots

Long-term exposure to a type of air pollution, the air-borne fine particles, appears to dramatically increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis, a condition that can lead to a life-threatening pulmonary embolism, according to a study in the May 12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

More at http://foodconsumer.org/7777/8888/M_edicare_54/051309452008_Air_pollution_linked_to_blood_clots.shtml

Smog steals flower fragrance

A very interesting study this week on how ozone, or smog, or harming the fragrance of flowers -- and inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow the scent trail to their source.

More at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410170413.htm

Outdoor smog hurts workers inside buildings

Berkeley Lab Scientists Find Evidence of Link Between Outdoor Ozone and Building-Related Health Symptoms

BERKELEY, CA — A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found evidence that the prevalence of building-related symptoms (BRS) increases with increasing outdoor concentrations of the pollutant ozone. They have also discovered that the type of air filter that some buildings use in their ventilation systems may also play a role in the prevalence of BRS.

More at

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-BRS.html