Tuesday, June 12, 2012
World Health Organization: diesel=cancer, ranks up there with asbestos and mustard gas
IARC: DIESEL ENGINE EXHAUST CARCINOGENIC
Lyon, France, June 12, 2012 ‐‐ After a week-long meeting of international experts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), today classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer.
[more at http://press.iarc.fr/pr213_E.pdf ]
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Medical researchers: even moderate air pollution levels can raise stroke risk
Even Moderate Air Pollution Can Raise Stroke Risks
Risk rises within hours of exposure
Date: 2/13/2012
BIDMC Contact: Jerry Berger
Phone: 617-667-7308
Email: jberger@bidmc.harvard.edu
BOSTON – Air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers have found.
Writing in the Feb. 14, 2012 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers who studied more than 1,700 stroke patients in the Boston area over a 10-year period found exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, generally from vehicle traffic, was associated with a significantly higher risk of ischemic strokes on days when the EPA’s air quality index for particulate matter was yellow instead of green.
Researchers focused on particles with a diameter of 2.5 millionths of a meter, referred to as PM2.5. These particles come from a variety of sources, including power plants, factories, trucks and automobiles and the burning of wood. They can travel deeply into the lungs and have been associated in other studies with increased numbers of hospital visits for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks.
“The link between increased stroke risk and these particulates can be observed within hours of exposure and are most strongly associated with pollution from local or transported traffic emissions,” says Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH, the study’s senior author, a physician in the CardioVascular Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Any proposed changes in regulated pollution levels must consider the impact of lower levels on public health.”
“Considering that almost everyone is exposed to air pollution and is at risk for stroke, that’s actually a pretty large effect,” adds Gregory Wellenius, ScD, the study’s lead author and an Assistant Professor of Community Health at Brown University.
Researchers analyzed the medical records of more than 1,700 patients who went to the hospital for treatment of confirmed strokes between 1999 and 2008. They matched the onset of stroke symptoms in each patient to hourly measurements of particulate air pollution taken at the nearby Harvard School of Public Health’s environmental monitoring station.
The team was able to estimate the hour the stroke symptoms first occurred, rather than relying on the more coarse measure of when patients were admitted to the hospital. They also included only strokes confirmed by attending neurologists, rather than relying on more vague insurance billing codes.
Meanwhile, Harvard’s hourly measurements of pollution within 13 miles of 90 percent of the stroke patients’ homes allowed for close matching in time of exposure and stroke onset.
“We think that this study is novel in that it has high-quality data on both air pollution exposure and stroke diagnosis,” Wellenius says.
The team was able to calculate that the peak risk to patients from pollution exposure occurs 12-14 hours before a stroke. That information may be useful to researchers who want to trace how PM2.5 might be working in the body to increase the likelihood of stroke.
They also found that black carbon and nitrogen dioxide, two pollutants associated with vehicle traffic, were closely linked with stroke risk, suggesting that pollution from cars and trucks may be particularly important.
Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States. An estimated 795,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke every year, resulting in more than 135,000 deaths and 829,000 hospital admissions.
The finding that days of moderate air quality substantially elevate stroke risk compared to days of good air quality suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency may need to strengthen the language it uses to describe the health consequences of moderate air quality, researchers say.
“In partnership with NIEHS, EPA funded this research advancing our understanding of air pollution and health effects,” said Dan Costa, ScD, DABT, Interim National Program Director for Air Climate & Energy Research in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Research.
“In 2009, EPA published an Integrated Science Assessment concluding a causal relationship exists between PM2.5 and cardiovascular impacts, including strokes. Dr. Wellenius and colleagues’ study is the first to show that the onset of stroke can occur with less than a day's exposure to fine PM. Highly relevant research such as this informs the PM2.5 standards and protects human health.”
Researchers estimate reducing PM2.5 pollution by about 20 percent could have prevented 6,100 of the 184,000 stroke hospitalizations in the northeastern United States in 2007.
While researchers acknowledge results need to be replicated in other cities, they note that Boston is considered to have relatively clean air.
“The levels of PM2.5 in Boston are lower than those seen in many in other parts of the country, yet we still find that within these moderate levels the risk of stroke is higher on days with more particles in the air,” Mittleman says.
In addition to Wellenius and Mittleman, co-authors include Mary R. Burger, MD, and Gottfried Schlaug, MD, MPH of BIDMC, Brent A. Coull. PhD, Joel Schwartz, PhD, Helen Suh, ScD, Petros Koutrakis, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health and Diane R. Gold, MD, of Brigham an d Women’s Hospital.
The study was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency. One or more of the authors are currently receiving or have received funding from the Health Effects Institute of Boston; the Electric Power Research Institute of Palo Alto, CA; the EPA and the National Institutes of Health.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. The medical center is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.
Risk rises within hours of exposure
Date: 2/13/2012
BIDMC Contact: Jerry Berger
Phone: 617-667-7308
Email: jberger@bidmc.harvard.edu
BOSTON – Air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers have found.
Writing in the Feb. 14, 2012 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers who studied more than 1,700 stroke patients in the Boston area over a 10-year period found exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, generally from vehicle traffic, was associated with a significantly higher risk of ischemic strokes on days when the EPA’s air quality index for particulate matter was yellow instead of green.
Researchers focused on particles with a diameter of 2.5 millionths of a meter, referred to as PM2.5. These particles come from a variety of sources, including power plants, factories, trucks and automobiles and the burning of wood. They can travel deeply into the lungs and have been associated in other studies with increased numbers of hospital visits for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks.
“The link between increased stroke risk and these particulates can be observed within hours of exposure and are most strongly associated with pollution from local or transported traffic emissions,” says Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH, the study’s senior author, a physician in the CardioVascular Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Any proposed changes in regulated pollution levels must consider the impact of lower levels on public health.”
“Considering that almost everyone is exposed to air pollution and is at risk for stroke, that’s actually a pretty large effect,” adds Gregory Wellenius, ScD, the study’s lead author and an Assistant Professor of Community Health at Brown University.
Researchers analyzed the medical records of more than 1,700 patients who went to the hospital for treatment of confirmed strokes between 1999 and 2008. They matched the onset of stroke symptoms in each patient to hourly measurements of particulate air pollution taken at the nearby Harvard School of Public Health’s environmental monitoring station.
The team was able to estimate the hour the stroke symptoms first occurred, rather than relying on the more coarse measure of when patients were admitted to the hospital. They also included only strokes confirmed by attending neurologists, rather than relying on more vague insurance billing codes.
Meanwhile, Harvard’s hourly measurements of pollution within 13 miles of 90 percent of the stroke patients’ homes allowed for close matching in time of exposure and stroke onset.
“We think that this study is novel in that it has high-quality data on both air pollution exposure and stroke diagnosis,” Wellenius says.
The team was able to calculate that the peak risk to patients from pollution exposure occurs 12-14 hours before a stroke. That information may be useful to researchers who want to trace how PM2.5 might be working in the body to increase the likelihood of stroke.
They also found that black carbon and nitrogen dioxide, two pollutants associated with vehicle traffic, were closely linked with stroke risk, suggesting that pollution from cars and trucks may be particularly important.
Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States. An estimated 795,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke every year, resulting in more than 135,000 deaths and 829,000 hospital admissions.
The finding that days of moderate air quality substantially elevate stroke risk compared to days of good air quality suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency may need to strengthen the language it uses to describe the health consequences of moderate air quality, researchers say.
“In partnership with NIEHS, EPA funded this research advancing our understanding of air pollution and health effects,” said Dan Costa, ScD, DABT, Interim National Program Director for Air Climate & Energy Research in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Research.
“In 2009, EPA published an Integrated Science Assessment concluding a causal relationship exists between PM2.5 and cardiovascular impacts, including strokes. Dr. Wellenius and colleagues’ study is the first to show that the onset of stroke can occur with less than a day's exposure to fine PM. Highly relevant research such as this informs the PM2.5 standards and protects human health.”
Researchers estimate reducing PM2.5 pollution by about 20 percent could have prevented 6,100 of the 184,000 stroke hospitalizations in the northeastern United States in 2007.
While researchers acknowledge results need to be replicated in other cities, they note that Boston is considered to have relatively clean air.
“The levels of PM2.5 in Boston are lower than those seen in many in other parts of the country, yet we still find that within these moderate levels the risk of stroke is higher on days with more particles in the air,” Mittleman says.
In addition to Wellenius and Mittleman, co-authors include Mary R. Burger, MD, and Gottfried Schlaug, MD, MPH of BIDMC, Brent A. Coull. PhD, Joel Schwartz, PhD, Helen Suh, ScD, Petros Koutrakis, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health and Diane R. Gold, MD, of Brigham an d Women’s Hospital.
The study was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency. One or more of the authors are currently receiving or have received funding from the Health Effects Institute of Boston; the Electric Power Research Institute of Palo Alto, CA; the EPA and the National Institutes of Health.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. The medical center is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Bikers Beware of Dirty Air!
A very interesting piece from Environmental Health News:
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/exhaust-ing-ride-for-cyclists
Exhaust-ing ride for cyclists: Air pollutants trigger heart risk
In big cities around the world, cyclists breathe an array of pollutants from exhaust-spewing cars. A new study has now found a link between cycling on high traffic roads and heart risks. Even healthy cyclists had harmful changes in their heart rates. Experts say cyclists should stick to their two-wheels, however, pointing to simple solutions to reduce exposure.
Unrelenting traffic leaves a wake of gritty exhaust for cyclists to breathe.
By Brett Israel
Environmental Health News
July 6, 2011
NEW YORK – Even by this city's standards, the Garment District is an imposing place to ride a bike.
A never-ending parade of delivery trucks rumbles along 8th Avenue between 34th and 42nd streets, leaving a wake of gritty exhaust for cyclists to feel, smell and breathe.
After riding in the Garment District, Robert "Rocket" Ruiz, a 13-year veteran of the bike messenger business, would often look into the bathroom mirror and see his face covered in grime.
"I remember having to wash my face three or four times a day," said Ruiz, now the head dispatcher for Quik Trak Messenger Service. "There's nothing but tar and smoke on your face." Ruiz, a star on the Travel Channel's bike messenger show "Triple Rush," said he once had to miss a day of work to see a doctor because of exhaust burning his eyes.
Pedaling behind pollutant-spewing cars and trucks may not seem as scary as being hit by one, but scientists say it can pose invisible dangers.
Now, for the first time, cycling in heavy traffic has been linked to a heart health risk, Canadian researchers reported last month. A new study found cyclists in Ottawa, Ontario, had heart irregularities in the hours after their exposure to a variety of air pollutants on busy roads.
Pedaling behind pollutant-spewing cars and trucks may not seem as scary as being hit by one, but scientists say it can pose invisible dangers."Our findings suggest that short-term exposure to traffic may have a significant impact on cardiac autonomic function in healthy adults," the scientists from Health Canada, Environment Canada and the University of Ottawa wrote in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The study does not suggest that bikers would be better off driving, experts say. Rather, the findings intensify the scrutiny on cyclists' pollution exposure, and point to simple solutions for a cleaner ride, such as avoiding busy roads like 8th Avenue whenever possible.
"It's something that actually concerns a lot of people that do cycle," said Michael Brauer, a cyclist and atmospheric scientist at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the new study. "People want to understand their risk. They're just thinking all the time, 'Is this good for me? Is this bad for me? I'm doing my part, but there's this car that's throwing this exhaust in my face.' "
For the study, 42 healthy, non-smoking cyclists wore heart monitors before, during and after cycling for one hour on high- and low-traffic roads between May and September last year. Instruments on the bikes' panniers measured exposure to air pollution.
Study results point to simple solutions for a cleaner ride, such as avoiding busy roads whenever possible.
Short-term exposure to heavy traffic significantly decreased heart rate variability in the cyclists for up to three hours after they finished cycling. Experts say reduced heart rate variability is associated with a higher risk of heart attacks.
"A very healthy person is like a Ferrari," said Arden Pope, an expert in the health effects of air pollution and professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. "Step on the gas and it really goes fast. Step on the brakes and it really slows down. The human heart, you want it to be like that too."
But with lower heart rate variability, the heart is behaving more like a minivan than a Ferrari, Pope said, meaning that it is less able to respond to stress.
Researchers are not sure how air pollution alters heart rate variability, Pope said. One idea is that particles in the lungs cause inflammation, which throws off the body's ability to carry out its automatic functions.
No respiratory effects were found in the cyclists. The researchers did not find any significant changes in their lung function, probably because all the cyclists were healthy, and most had no asthma or other respiratory problems.
Around the world, researchers have found that whenever fine particles increase in the air, deaths and hospitalizations from asthma, heart attacks and other cardiopulmonary problems increase, too.
Hours to weeks of exposure to particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which peak during rush hours, can trigger cardiovascular effects, according to the American Heart Association.
Researchers are not sure how air pollution alters heart rate variability. One idea is that particles in the lungs cause inflammation, which throws off the body's ability to carry out its automatic functions.For the Canadian cyclists, when their exposure to certain pollutants, including ultrafine particles, nitrogen dioxide or ozone, increased, their heart rate variability decreased, according to the study.
Sheer proximity to tailpipes is one reason why cyclists have a high exposure to the tiny particle pollutants, which are emitted by vehicles along with thousands of other chemicals. Diesel buses and trucks are among the worst offenders.
"The closer you are to the source of the fresh exhaust, the worse it is," said Patrick Ryan, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Cincinnati, who studies the health effects of traffic-related pollution.
Near the tailpipe, these particles are small enough to lodge deep in the lungs, triggering heart attacks and hospitalizations from lung diseases such as asthma. Tiny particles can also cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially harming the nervous system. Farther away from the tailpipe, these particles clump together, growing too large to lodge deeply, Ryan said.
That's why even a small separation from cars, created by physical barriers to traffic – something that's missing for most of 8th Avenue – is important for cyclists.
Two white stripes of paint, with a few feet of cycling space between them, is all that is reserved for bikers on this crowded street. Trucks commonly idle on the bike lane. Heavy traffic creates a wind tunnel that traps pollution on the road, according to a study by the California Air Resources Board.
A 2010 study of cyclists in the Netherlands showed that hard-pedaling, deep-breathing cyclists on busy roads inhale more of this dirty air. In many cases, they also spend more time exposed to it compared to someone driving the same distance.
"Those things add up and they give cyclists that cycle in traffic a high exposure," Brauer said.
But whether that exposure ups a cyclist's risk for heart or breathing problems has been less well established. One small study of Netherlands cyclists found a weak link between exposure to ultrafine particles and soot and airway inflammation.
The new study of Canadian cyclists does not mean that people should lock up their bikes and hop back into the driver's seat, said Brauer. Another study has shown that drivers have higher respiratory problems than cyclists because of their higher exposure to volatile organic chemicals in vehicle exhaust.
"In stop-and-go traffic, [drivers] have more exposure than a cyclist who stays 15 feet or more from the tailpipes," said Rebecca Serna, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, a cycling advocacy group.
The health benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks from air pollution and traffic collisions relative to car driving, according to one estimate by researchers in the Netherlands, where cycling is king. Taking cars off the road also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic accidents.
"In general, you're better off cycling than not," Brauer said. "The physical activity benefits outweigh negative impacts. But you'd like there to be no impacts."
Exposure to dirty air adds to the perception problem that cycling is unsafe, said C.H. Christine Bae, an urban planner at the University of Washington in Seattle, who specializes in how bike facilities affect air pollution exposure.
The Canadian study authors have a simple solution. Avoid busy streets.
"In general, you're better off cycling than not. The physical activity benefits outweigh negative impacts. But you'd like there to be no impacts." – Michael Brauer, cyclist and atmospheric scientist, University of British Columbia"When possible it may be prudent to select cycling routes that reduce exposure to traffic and/or to avoid cycling outdoors or exercise indoors on days with elevated air pollution levels," the research team wrote.
Others agree.
"Our recommendations to cyclists would be to avoid busy as streets as much as possible," said Dimitri Stanich, aspokesman for California's Air Resources Board.
Of course, cyclists might want to avoid busy streets for a number of reasons – fewer distracted drivers being one. But the busiest streets also have the dirtiest air, with ultrafine particle and soot exposure highest on busy roads, according to a recent study.
Bike routes should aim to minimize time spent on these high-traffic roads, the Canadian researchers wrote. This would reduce exposures of riders who may be more susceptible to the immediate health risks of traffic-related air pollution, such as the elderly, children, and pregnant mothers.
A study of bike lanes in Portland, Ore., showed that lanes separated by planters, not just by white paint, actually decreased cyclists' air pollution exposure. A Belgian study of traffic pollution found that cycling as little as several feet off the road gave measurable differences in exposure.
Getting cyclists out from behind the cars helps, too. In Portland, when traffic stops at a red light, cyclists have a designated area at the front of the line of cars, called a bicycle box, which helps them navigate turns and flee the tailpipe fumes.
Solutions like this bicycle box in Portland help cyclists flee tailpipe fumes.
"Little things like that can help a lot to reduce exposure to cyclists," Bae said.
If a little is good, more is better. Brauer says the preliminary results of his lab's work suggest that bike lanes are best when built one block from a major traffic artery. Despite the emerging research, Bae said that she does not know of any cities that consider cyclists' pollution exposure when designing bike lanes.
Including Vancouver, where Brauer cycles, many of the cities that built bike lanes one block away from a major road thought about cost, not pollution.
"Most were done by accident, because they were cheaper," Brauer said. "But they actually give you an air pollution benefit."
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/exhaust-ing-ride-for-cyclists
Exhaust-ing ride for cyclists: Air pollutants trigger heart risk
In big cities around the world, cyclists breathe an array of pollutants from exhaust-spewing cars. A new study has now found a link between cycling on high traffic roads and heart risks. Even healthy cyclists had harmful changes in their heart rates. Experts say cyclists should stick to their two-wheels, however, pointing to simple solutions to reduce exposure.
Unrelenting traffic leaves a wake of gritty exhaust for cyclists to breathe.
By Brett Israel
Environmental Health News
July 6, 2011
NEW YORK – Even by this city's standards, the Garment District is an imposing place to ride a bike.
A never-ending parade of delivery trucks rumbles along 8th Avenue between 34th and 42nd streets, leaving a wake of gritty exhaust for cyclists to feel, smell and breathe.
After riding in the Garment District, Robert "Rocket" Ruiz, a 13-year veteran of the bike messenger business, would often look into the bathroom mirror and see his face covered in grime.
"I remember having to wash my face three or four times a day," said Ruiz, now the head dispatcher for Quik Trak Messenger Service. "There's nothing but tar and smoke on your face." Ruiz, a star on the Travel Channel's bike messenger show "Triple Rush," said he once had to miss a day of work to see a doctor because of exhaust burning his eyes.
Pedaling behind pollutant-spewing cars and trucks may not seem as scary as being hit by one, but scientists say it can pose invisible dangers.
Now, for the first time, cycling in heavy traffic has been linked to a heart health risk, Canadian researchers reported last month. A new study found cyclists in Ottawa, Ontario, had heart irregularities in the hours after their exposure to a variety of air pollutants on busy roads.
Pedaling behind pollutant-spewing cars and trucks may not seem as scary as being hit by one, but scientists say it can pose invisible dangers."Our findings suggest that short-term exposure to traffic may have a significant impact on cardiac autonomic function in healthy adults," the scientists from Health Canada, Environment Canada and the University of Ottawa wrote in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The study does not suggest that bikers would be better off driving, experts say. Rather, the findings intensify the scrutiny on cyclists' pollution exposure, and point to simple solutions for a cleaner ride, such as avoiding busy roads like 8th Avenue whenever possible.
"It's something that actually concerns a lot of people that do cycle," said Michael Brauer, a cyclist and atmospheric scientist at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the new study. "People want to understand their risk. They're just thinking all the time, 'Is this good for me? Is this bad for me? I'm doing my part, but there's this car that's throwing this exhaust in my face.' "
For the study, 42 healthy, non-smoking cyclists wore heart monitors before, during and after cycling for one hour on high- and low-traffic roads between May and September last year. Instruments on the bikes' panniers measured exposure to air pollution.
Study results point to simple solutions for a cleaner ride, such as avoiding busy roads whenever possible.
Short-term exposure to heavy traffic significantly decreased heart rate variability in the cyclists for up to three hours after they finished cycling. Experts say reduced heart rate variability is associated with a higher risk of heart attacks.
"A very healthy person is like a Ferrari," said Arden Pope, an expert in the health effects of air pollution and professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. "Step on the gas and it really goes fast. Step on the brakes and it really slows down. The human heart, you want it to be like that too."
But with lower heart rate variability, the heart is behaving more like a minivan than a Ferrari, Pope said, meaning that it is less able to respond to stress.
Researchers are not sure how air pollution alters heart rate variability, Pope said. One idea is that particles in the lungs cause inflammation, which throws off the body's ability to carry out its automatic functions.
No respiratory effects were found in the cyclists. The researchers did not find any significant changes in their lung function, probably because all the cyclists were healthy, and most had no asthma or other respiratory problems.
Around the world, researchers have found that whenever fine particles increase in the air, deaths and hospitalizations from asthma, heart attacks and other cardiopulmonary problems increase, too.
Hours to weeks of exposure to particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which peak during rush hours, can trigger cardiovascular effects, according to the American Heart Association.
Researchers are not sure how air pollution alters heart rate variability. One idea is that particles in the lungs cause inflammation, which throws off the body's ability to carry out its automatic functions.For the Canadian cyclists, when their exposure to certain pollutants, including ultrafine particles, nitrogen dioxide or ozone, increased, their heart rate variability decreased, according to the study.
Sheer proximity to tailpipes is one reason why cyclists have a high exposure to the tiny particle pollutants, which are emitted by vehicles along with thousands of other chemicals. Diesel buses and trucks are among the worst offenders.
"The closer you are to the source of the fresh exhaust, the worse it is," said Patrick Ryan, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Cincinnati, who studies the health effects of traffic-related pollution.
Near the tailpipe, these particles are small enough to lodge deep in the lungs, triggering heart attacks and hospitalizations from lung diseases such as asthma. Tiny particles can also cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially harming the nervous system. Farther away from the tailpipe, these particles clump together, growing too large to lodge deeply, Ryan said.
That's why even a small separation from cars, created by physical barriers to traffic – something that's missing for most of 8th Avenue – is important for cyclists.
Two white stripes of paint, with a few feet of cycling space between them, is all that is reserved for bikers on this crowded street. Trucks commonly idle on the bike lane. Heavy traffic creates a wind tunnel that traps pollution on the road, according to a study by the California Air Resources Board.
A 2010 study of cyclists in the Netherlands showed that hard-pedaling, deep-breathing cyclists on busy roads inhale more of this dirty air. In many cases, they also spend more time exposed to it compared to someone driving the same distance.
"Those things add up and they give cyclists that cycle in traffic a high exposure," Brauer said.
But whether that exposure ups a cyclist's risk for heart or breathing problems has been less well established. One small study of Netherlands cyclists found a weak link between exposure to ultrafine particles and soot and airway inflammation.
The new study of Canadian cyclists does not mean that people should lock up their bikes and hop back into the driver's seat, said Brauer. Another study has shown that drivers have higher respiratory problems than cyclists because of their higher exposure to volatile organic chemicals in vehicle exhaust.
"In stop-and-go traffic, [drivers] have more exposure than a cyclist who stays 15 feet or more from the tailpipes," said Rebecca Serna, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, a cycling advocacy group.
The health benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks from air pollution and traffic collisions relative to car driving, according to one estimate by researchers in the Netherlands, where cycling is king. Taking cars off the road also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic accidents.
"In general, you're better off cycling than not," Brauer said. "The physical activity benefits outweigh negative impacts. But you'd like there to be no impacts."
Exposure to dirty air adds to the perception problem that cycling is unsafe, said C.H. Christine Bae, an urban planner at the University of Washington in Seattle, who specializes in how bike facilities affect air pollution exposure.
The Canadian study authors have a simple solution. Avoid busy streets.
"In general, you're better off cycling than not. The physical activity benefits outweigh negative impacts. But you'd like there to be no impacts." – Michael Brauer, cyclist and atmospheric scientist, University of British Columbia"When possible it may be prudent to select cycling routes that reduce exposure to traffic and/or to avoid cycling outdoors or exercise indoors on days with elevated air pollution levels," the research team wrote.
Others agree.
"Our recommendations to cyclists would be to avoid busy as streets as much as possible," said Dimitri Stanich, aspokesman for California's Air Resources Board.
Of course, cyclists might want to avoid busy streets for a number of reasons – fewer distracted drivers being one. But the busiest streets also have the dirtiest air, with ultrafine particle and soot exposure highest on busy roads, according to a recent study.
Bike routes should aim to minimize time spent on these high-traffic roads, the Canadian researchers wrote. This would reduce exposures of riders who may be more susceptible to the immediate health risks of traffic-related air pollution, such as the elderly, children, and pregnant mothers.
A study of bike lanes in Portland, Ore., showed that lanes separated by planters, not just by white paint, actually decreased cyclists' air pollution exposure. A Belgian study of traffic pollution found that cycling as little as several feet off the road gave measurable differences in exposure.
Getting cyclists out from behind the cars helps, too. In Portland, when traffic stops at a red light, cyclists have a designated area at the front of the line of cars, called a bicycle box, which helps them navigate turns and flee the tailpipe fumes.
Solutions like this bicycle box in Portland help cyclists flee tailpipe fumes.
"Little things like that can help a lot to reduce exposure to cyclists," Bae said.
If a little is good, more is better. Brauer says the preliminary results of his lab's work suggest that bike lanes are best when built one block from a major traffic artery. Despite the emerging research, Bae said that she does not know of any cities that consider cyclists' pollution exposure when designing bike lanes.
Including Vancouver, where Brauer cycles, many of the cities that built bike lanes one block away from a major road thought about cost, not pollution.
"Most were done by accident, because they were cheaper," Brauer said. "But they actually give you an air pollution benefit."
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Uncontrolled asthma linked to air pollution exposure
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/229016.php
Article Date: 20 Jun 2011 - 16:00 PDT
People with asthma exposed to higher levels of ozone and particulate matter are much more likely to have poorer asthma control, researchers reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Long-term ozone exposure raises an asthma patient's likelihood to have uncontrolled asthma by 69%, while long-term exposure to particulate matter raises the risk by 35%, the authors added.
Even after taking into account known risk factors linked to poorly controlled asthma, such as obesity, inhaled corticosteroid use, and smoking, the findings still held true.
The researchers explained that prior studies had established a link between air pollution and worsening respiratory symptoms, more hospitalizations and increased use of prescription drugs. However, none had examined what the impact of long-term air pollution might be on asthma control.
The investigators gathered data from the follow-up to the Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA), involving 501 adult participants in five French cities, all with active asthma. They had filled in a questionnaire on respiratory health between 2003 and 2007.
Using data from the Institut Francais de l'Environnement (French Institute of the Environment), they calculated levels of O3 (ozone), NO2 (nitrous oxide) and PM10 (particulate matter) that each participant had been exposed to where they lived.
They measured asthma control according to data gathered on symptoms, asthma attacks, and lung function or FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second).
Data on pollutant levels were available for 481 patients. 44% of them had well-controlled asthma, 29% had partially controlled asthma, but 27% had poorly controlled asthma.
Calculated average levels of pollutants during the study period were:
Nitrous oxide - were 32 ug/m3
Ozone - 46 ug/m3
Particulate matter - 21 ug/m3
Both ozone and particulate matter levels were strongly linked to poorer asthma control. Long-term ozone exposure increased poor asthma control risk by 69%, and by 35% for particulate matter long-term exposure.
Females and older individuals of both sexes were more likely to experience poorly controlled asthma.
The authors concluded:
"Our results indicate that both ambient O3 and PM10 concentrations jeopardise asthma control in adults. The results are robust."
Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Article Date: 20 Jun 2011 - 16:00 PDT
People with asthma exposed to higher levels of ozone and particulate matter are much more likely to have poorer asthma control, researchers reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Long-term ozone exposure raises an asthma patient's likelihood to have uncontrolled asthma by 69%, while long-term exposure to particulate matter raises the risk by 35%, the authors added.
Even after taking into account known risk factors linked to poorly controlled asthma, such as obesity, inhaled corticosteroid use, and smoking, the findings still held true.
The researchers explained that prior studies had established a link between air pollution and worsening respiratory symptoms, more hospitalizations and increased use of prescription drugs. However, none had examined what the impact of long-term air pollution might be on asthma control.
The investigators gathered data from the follow-up to the Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA), involving 501 adult participants in five French cities, all with active asthma. They had filled in a questionnaire on respiratory health between 2003 and 2007.
Using data from the Institut Francais de l'Environnement (French Institute of the Environment), they calculated levels of O3 (ozone), NO2 (nitrous oxide) and PM10 (particulate matter) that each participant had been exposed to where they lived.
They measured asthma control according to data gathered on symptoms, asthma attacks, and lung function or FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second).
Data on pollutant levels were available for 481 patients. 44% of them had well-controlled asthma, 29% had partially controlled asthma, but 27% had poorly controlled asthma.
Calculated average levels of pollutants during the study period were:
Nitrous oxide - were 32 ug/m3
Ozone - 46 ug/m3
Particulate matter - 21 ug/m3
Both ozone and particulate matter levels were strongly linked to poorer asthma control. Long-term ozone exposure increased poor asthma control risk by 69%, and by 35% for particulate matter long-term exposure.
Females and older individuals of both sexes were more likely to experience poorly controlled asthma.
The authors concluded:
"Our results indicate that both ambient O3 and PM10 concentrations jeopardise asthma control in adults. The results are robust."
Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Study: traffic pollution linked to brain damage
A new study from the University of Southern California on the physical effect of road pollution showed significant brain damage.
Researchers exposed mice to traffic pollution for five hours a day, three days a week, for 10 weeks. They eventually found out the test subjects’ brains showed signs of inflammation similar to premature ageing and Alzheimer’s disease.
Moreover, the neurons involved in learning and memory loss showed significant damage, and the brain neurons of developing mice did not grow as well as those not subjected to traffic particles.
The study’s senior author, Dr Caleb Finch, said these air contaminants – about 1,000th the width of a human hair – were too small to be captured by vehicle filtration systems. Humans are just as likely to inhale them, which raises the possibility of long-term brain health consequences.
Switching to electric cars would be an easy solution, although Dr Finch cautions that ''electrical generation still depends upon other combustion processes – coal – that in a larger environment contribute nanoparticles anyway''.
Researchers exposed mice to traffic pollution for five hours a day, three days a week, for 10 weeks. They eventually found out the test subjects’ brains showed signs of inflammation similar to premature ageing and Alzheimer’s disease.
Moreover, the neurons involved in learning and memory loss showed significant damage, and the brain neurons of developing mice did not grow as well as those not subjected to traffic particles.
The study’s senior author, Dr Caleb Finch, said these air contaminants – about 1,000th the width of a human hair – were too small to be captured by vehicle filtration systems. Humans are just as likely to inhale them, which raises the possibility of long-term brain health consequences.
Switching to electric cars would be an easy solution, although Dr Finch cautions that ''electrical generation still depends upon other combustion processes – coal – that in a larger environment contribute nanoparticles anyway''.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Research update: smog poses health risk below current national standard
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working with colleagues from the Environmental Protection Agency found that breathing a level of ozone at 0.06 parts per million (ppm), which is below the current U.S. standard of 0.075 ppm, can decrease lung function in healthy young adults. Lung function is a measure of how well a person is breathing.
Moreover, this study for the first time also shows that a level of ozone below the current safety standard causes people’s airways to become inflamed. This can trigger respiratory attacks in susceptible people, including asthmatics. Increased inflammation also increases response to things to which one is allergic.
What might this study mean to parents whose children are younger than the study participants?
“Even though this study was done in healthy adults ages 19 to 35, the findings clearly have public health implications for asthmatics and others with lung disease of all ages,” said co-author David B. Peden, MD, MS, director of the UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology. He is also professor of pediatrics and medicine, and chief of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics.
To minimize the effect of ozone, Peden said, one should be alert to forecasts of increased ozone exposure in newspapers and on local weather forecasts. This usually occurs in the summer. “If at all possible, people with asthma should not be heavily exercising outdoors in afternoons on days that ozone will be increased,” he advises. “Also, using controlled asthma medications, which are important for asthma control in general, may be especially helpful at times when ozone will be elevated.”
According to the EPA, variations in weather conditions play an important role in determining ozone levels. Ozone is more readily formed on warm, sunny days when the air is stagnant. Conversely, ozone production is more limited when it is cloudy, cool, rainy, and windy (see: http://www.epa.gov … s/ozone.html).
Peden and co-authors point out that more than 100 million people in the US now live in counties that do not meet the current ozone standard “and [the] public health consequences are enormous.”
More information: A report of the research appears online in the January issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Moreover, this study for the first time also shows that a level of ozone below the current safety standard causes people’s airways to become inflamed. This can trigger respiratory attacks in susceptible people, including asthmatics. Increased inflammation also increases response to things to which one is allergic.
What might this study mean to parents whose children are younger than the study participants?
“Even though this study was done in healthy adults ages 19 to 35, the findings clearly have public health implications for asthmatics and others with lung disease of all ages,” said co-author David B. Peden, MD, MS, director of the UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology. He is also professor of pediatrics and medicine, and chief of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics.
To minimize the effect of ozone, Peden said, one should be alert to forecasts of increased ozone exposure in newspapers and on local weather forecasts. This usually occurs in the summer. “If at all possible, people with asthma should not be heavily exercising outdoors in afternoons on days that ozone will be increased,” he advises. “Also, using controlled asthma medications, which are important for asthma control in general, may be especially helpful at times when ozone will be elevated.”
According to the EPA, variations in weather conditions play an important role in determining ozone levels. Ozone is more readily formed on warm, sunny days when the air is stagnant. Conversely, ozone production is more limited when it is cloudy, cool, rainy, and windy (see: http://www.epa.gov … s/ozone.html).
Peden and co-authors point out that more than 100 million people in the US now live in counties that do not meet the current ozone standard “and [the] public health consequences are enormous.”
More information: A report of the research appears online in the January issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Air pollution worse than cocaine for triggering heart attacks
Air pollution worse than cocaine for triggering heart attacks, says studyResearch into 'final straw' risk factors says traffic fumes greater population-wide threat than drug because of numbers exposed
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011 18.37
Air pollution is a bigger trigger of heart attacks in the population than physical exertion, alcohol and taking cocaine, a study has shown. On an individual basis, cocaine raises the risk of a heart attack 23 times, says a study published in the Lancet.
But far more people are exposed to traffic fumes and factory emissions than cocaine so air quality is a far more important population-wide threat.
Scientists looked at "final straw" risk factors for triggering heart attacks, rather than underlying causes of heart disease. The highest risk factor was traffic exposure (7.4%), followed by physical exertion (6.2%) and alcohol (5%), coffee (5%), and higher levels of small air pollutant particles known as PM10s (4.8%).
Other risk factors included negative emotions, with a PAF of 3.9%, anger (3.1%), eating a heavy meal (2.7%), positive emotions (2.4%) and sexual activity (2.2%).
Air pollution triggers 5-7% of heart attacks in the population, they say. Cocaine accounts for just 0.9% of all heart attacks.
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011 18.37
Air pollution is a bigger trigger of heart attacks in the population than physical exertion, alcohol and taking cocaine, a study has shown. On an individual basis, cocaine raises the risk of a heart attack 23 times, says a study published in the Lancet.
But far more people are exposed to traffic fumes and factory emissions than cocaine so air quality is a far more important population-wide threat.
Scientists looked at "final straw" risk factors for triggering heart attacks, rather than underlying causes of heart disease. The highest risk factor was traffic exposure (7.4%), followed by physical exertion (6.2%) and alcohol (5%), coffee (5%), and higher levels of small air pollutant particles known as PM10s (4.8%).
Other risk factors included negative emotions, with a PAF of 3.9%, anger (3.1%), eating a heavy meal (2.7%), positive emotions (2.4%) and sexual activity (2.2%).
Air pollution triggers 5-7% of heart attacks in the population, they say. Cocaine accounts for just 0.9% of all heart attacks.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Guest posting: study clean air science online
[This is a guest posting by Kayla Tanner]
Study Clean Air Science Online
In today’s world of arguing; disagreeing and general bickering it’s nice to know of a few topics that everyone can agree upon. One of them is the need for clean air.
Many may have different views on how to approach reversing the damage already caused to the air by various sources of pollution. But everyone can definitely agree that they enjoy breathing.
How To Clean Up the Air
As with most endeavors, approaching the issue of cleaning up our air is best undertaken by first establishing a basis in education. This of course includes the gaining of ongoing knowledge and the educating of others in steps that can be taken that will insure cleaner air now and in the future.
Obviously an undertaking such as educating the entire world is a large proposition to say the least. But every venture begins with a first step. So it would be wise to consider making the first step one that involves educating yourself.
Educational Options
The most obvious of options to choose where gaining knowledge is concerned in any field is to undertake a course of self-study. In other words, you’d be wise to consider the internet, public library, local book stores and reliance upon your own common sense in order to gain knowledge on topics concerning how to clean up the air and clean air in general. However, other available options should also be considered.
Obviously enrollment at a college or university would help you enormously in the gaining of knowledge in clean air studies and the sciences attached to the subject overall. But often such educational pursuits prove impractical for many reasons.
For example, leaving home to go off to college is not usually viable for those with families, jobs and any number of life’s other obligations to be considered. And even if the college or university you choose to learn from offers the appropriate courses in clean air sciences and related fields you’re looking for on a commuter basis that does not require living arrangements on campus, they will obviously cause you to make room in your life’s schedule for physical attendance within a timetable of their choosing where traditional enrollment is involved.
There is also the issue of cost involved when considering traditional enrollment at most institutions of higher learning. The price of tuition alone is high enough to give most working people a nosebleed. Then add to that the need for housing costs and other living expenses if you choose to live on campus, and you will more than likely find the cost of such an education to be out of your reach (unless your name happens to be Kennedy, Getty or Rockefeller).
There is of course the possibility of acquiring student loans and various grants. But these seldom cover the entire tab for a college education.
More Practical Educational Options
Presently we live in a world of electronic communication that is nearly instantaneous. And this is a plus where access to education in fields such as clean air studies and related sciences are concerned. More specifically, the most practical approach for most seeking additional education involves the investigation of online schools.
Most educators believe that online schools represent the future of education, as we know it. However, there is a stigma mistakenly attached to them by many who equate such internet study to an electronic incarnation of disreputable correspondence schools of the past. But such negative thinkers couldn’t be more mistaken.
Even as you read this, most every educational institution on our planet is offering degrees that can be acquired (at least in part) via their online schools and courses of study. And such learning institutions obviously include a myriad of science schools that can help any dedicated individual further their education in the area of clean air.
Study Clean Air Science Online
In today’s world of arguing; disagreeing and general bickering it’s nice to know of a few topics that everyone can agree upon. One of them is the need for clean air.
Many may have different views on how to approach reversing the damage already caused to the air by various sources of pollution. But everyone can definitely agree that they enjoy breathing.
How To Clean Up the Air
As with most endeavors, approaching the issue of cleaning up our air is best undertaken by first establishing a basis in education. This of course includes the gaining of ongoing knowledge and the educating of others in steps that can be taken that will insure cleaner air now and in the future.
Obviously an undertaking such as educating the entire world is a large proposition to say the least. But every venture begins with a first step. So it would be wise to consider making the first step one that involves educating yourself.
Educational Options
The most obvious of options to choose where gaining knowledge is concerned in any field is to undertake a course of self-study. In other words, you’d be wise to consider the internet, public library, local book stores and reliance upon your own common sense in order to gain knowledge on topics concerning how to clean up the air and clean air in general. However, other available options should also be considered.
Obviously enrollment at a college or university would help you enormously in the gaining of knowledge in clean air studies and the sciences attached to the subject overall. But often such educational pursuits prove impractical for many reasons.
For example, leaving home to go off to college is not usually viable for those with families, jobs and any number of life’s other obligations to be considered. And even if the college or university you choose to learn from offers the appropriate courses in clean air sciences and related fields you’re looking for on a commuter basis that does not require living arrangements on campus, they will obviously cause you to make room in your life’s schedule for physical attendance within a timetable of their choosing where traditional enrollment is involved.
There is also the issue of cost involved when considering traditional enrollment at most institutions of higher learning. The price of tuition alone is high enough to give most working people a nosebleed. Then add to that the need for housing costs and other living expenses if you choose to live on campus, and you will more than likely find the cost of such an education to be out of your reach (unless your name happens to be Kennedy, Getty or Rockefeller).
There is of course the possibility of acquiring student loans and various grants. But these seldom cover the entire tab for a college education.
More Practical Educational Options
Presently we live in a world of electronic communication that is nearly instantaneous. And this is a plus where access to education in fields such as clean air studies and related sciences are concerned. More specifically, the most practical approach for most seeking additional education involves the investigation of online schools.
Most educators believe that online schools represent the future of education, as we know it. However, there is a stigma mistakenly attached to them by many who equate such internet study to an electronic incarnation of disreputable correspondence schools of the past. But such negative thinkers couldn’t be more mistaken.
Even as you read this, most every educational institution on our planet is offering degrees that can be acquired (at least in part) via their online schools and courses of study. And such learning institutions obviously include a myriad of science schools that can help any dedicated individual further their education in the area of clean air.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Startling new report on mercury and birds
Published online 1 December 2010 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2010.641
News
Mercury causes homosexuality in male ibises
Environmental pollutant radically changes birds' mating behaviour.
More a:
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101201/full/news.2010.641.html
News
Mercury causes homosexuality in male ibises
Environmental pollutant radically changes birds' mating behaviour.
More a:
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101201/full/news.2010.641.html
Air pollution, eye changes and disease
Public release date: 30-Nov-2010
Contact: Katie Hickling
press@plos.org
44-122-344-2815
Public Library of Science
Air pollution is associated with eye vessel changes indicative of cardiovascular disease
It is known that fine particle air pollution is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease; a study by Sara Adar, and colleagues (University of Washington/University of Michigan), published in this week's PLoS Medicine, takes this association further by showing that older people living in areas with long-term air pollution, or even exposed to short term pollution, are more likely to have narrowing of their retinal arterioles — microvascular changes associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
The authors took digital retinal photographs of participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis—which includes people aged 45 years of various ethnic backgrounds who had no cardiovascular disease symptoms when they enrolled in the study—to measure the diameter of retinal blood vessels. The authors modeled the long-term outdoor concentration of fine particle pollution at each participant's house for the 2-year period preceding the retinal examination; outdoor measurements taken the day before the examination provided data on short-term fine particle pollution levels. Of the 4,607 participants for whom complete data was available, retinal arteriolar diameters were narrowed among those who lived in regions with increased levels of long- and short-term fine particle pollution. In addition, increased retinal venular diameters were weakly associated with long-term (but not short-term) high concentrations of fine particle pollution.
The authors conclude: ''Residing in regions with higher air pollution concentrations and experiencing daily increases in air pollution were each associated with narrower retinal arteriolar diameters in older individuals.'' They continue: "These findings support the hypothesis that important vascular phenomena are associated with small increases in short-term or long-term air pollution exposures, even at current exposure levels, and further corroborate reported associations between air pollution and the development and exacerbation of clinical cardiovascular disease."
###
Citation: Adar SD, Klein R, Klein BEK, Szpiro AA, Cotch MF, et al. (2010) Air Pollution and the Microvasculature: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of In Vivo Retinal Images in the Population-Based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). PLoS Med 7(11): e1000372. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000372
Full article available online at:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000
Contact: Katie Hickling
press@plos.org
44-122-344-2815
Public Library of Science
Air pollution is associated with eye vessel changes indicative of cardiovascular disease
It is known that fine particle air pollution is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease; a study by Sara Adar, and colleagues (University of Washington/University of Michigan), published in this week's PLoS Medicine, takes this association further by showing that older people living in areas with long-term air pollution, or even exposed to short term pollution, are more likely to have narrowing of their retinal arterioles — microvascular changes associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
The authors took digital retinal photographs of participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis—which includes people aged 45 years of various ethnic backgrounds who had no cardiovascular disease symptoms when they enrolled in the study—to measure the diameter of retinal blood vessels. The authors modeled the long-term outdoor concentration of fine particle pollution at each participant's house for the 2-year period preceding the retinal examination; outdoor measurements taken the day before the examination provided data on short-term fine particle pollution levels. Of the 4,607 participants for whom complete data was available, retinal arteriolar diameters were narrowed among those who lived in regions with increased levels of long- and short-term fine particle pollution. In addition, increased retinal venular diameters were weakly associated with long-term (but not short-term) high concentrations of fine particle pollution.
The authors conclude: ''Residing in regions with higher air pollution concentrations and experiencing daily increases in air pollution were each associated with narrower retinal arteriolar diameters in older individuals.'' They continue: "These findings support the hypothesis that important vascular phenomena are associated with small increases in short-term or long-term air pollution exposures, even at current exposure levels, and further corroborate reported associations between air pollution and the development and exacerbation of clinical cardiovascular disease."
###
Citation: Adar SD, Klein R, Klein BEK, Szpiro AA, Cotch MF, et al. (2010) Air Pollution and the Microvasculature: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of In Vivo Retinal Images in the Population-Based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). PLoS Med 7(11): e1000372. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000372
Full article available online at:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
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
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
Friday, May 01, 2009
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
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
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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
More at http://foodconsumer.org/7777/8888/M_edicare_54/051309452008_Air_pollution_linked_to_blood_clots.shtml
Friday, April 18, 2008
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
More at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410170413.htm
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Kids and dirty air
Researchers from UC Davis have found a closer link between bronchitis in infants and some gases and particles in air pollution, findings that bolster efforts in the Sacramento region to control emissions from vehicles and wood-burning stoves.
In one of the first studies to look at air pollution and infants, researchers said last week they found young lungs more vulnerable to little-studied components in air pollution called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Such contaminants get into the air from coal burning, vehicle exhaust, wood-burning stoves and tobacco smoke, and from grilling food.
"Our work suggests that regulators consider efforts to curb PAHs as well," lead researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto said in a statement.
More from the Sacramento Bee at http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/445116.html
In one of the first studies to look at air pollution and infants, researchers said last week they found young lungs more vulnerable to little-studied components in air pollution called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Such contaminants get into the air from coal burning, vehicle exhaust, wood-burning stoves and tobacco smoke, and from grilling food.
"Our work suggests that regulators consider efforts to curb PAHs as well," lead researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto said in a statement.
More from the Sacramento Bee at http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/445116.html
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Global warming: it's not just the heat -- it's the humidity!
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON - With global warming, the world isn‘t just getting hotter — it‘s getting stickier, due to humidity. And people are to blame, according to a study based on computer models published Thursday.
"This humidity change is an important contribution to heat stress in humans as a result of global warming," said Nathan Gillett of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, a co-author of the study.
Humidity increased over most of the globe, including the eastern United States, said study co-author Katharine Willett, a climate researcher at Yale University. However, a few regions, including the U.S. West, South Africa and parts of Australia were drier.
To show that this is man-made, Gillett ran computer models to simulate past climate conditions and studied what would happen to humidity if there were no man-made greenhouse gases. It didn‘t match reality.
Gillett‘s study followed another last month that used the same technique to show that moisture above the world‘s oceans increased and that it bore the "fingerprint" of being caused by man-made global warming.
"This story does now fit together; there are now no loose ends," said Ben Santer, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and author of the September study on moisture above the oceans. "The message is pretty compelling that natural causes alone just can‘t cut it."
It will only feel worse in the future, Gillett said.
WASHINGTON - With global warming, the world isn‘t just getting hotter — it‘s getting stickier, due to humidity. And people are to blame, according to a study based on computer models published Thursday.
"This humidity change is an important contribution to heat stress in humans as a result of global warming," said Nathan Gillett of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, a co-author of the study.
Humidity increased over most of the globe, including the eastern United States, said study co-author Katharine Willett, a climate researcher at Yale University. However, a few regions, including the U.S. West, South Africa and parts of Australia were drier.
To show that this is man-made, Gillett ran computer models to simulate past climate conditions and studied what would happen to humidity if there were no man-made greenhouse gases. It didn‘t match reality.
Gillett‘s study followed another last month that used the same technique to show that moisture above the world‘s oceans increased and that it bore the "fingerprint" of being caused by man-made global warming.
"This story does now fit together; there are now no loose ends," said Ben Santer, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and author of the September study on moisture above the oceans. "The message is pretty compelling that natural causes alone just can‘t cut it."
It will only feel worse in the future, Gillett said.
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