Smoke from wildfires can tip air quality to unhealthy levels: Researchers analyze the long-term impact that wildfire smoke has on air quality in the US

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Smoke plumes emanating from wildfires are swept high up into the air and spread over thousands of kilometers even days after a fire has been put out. The fine particles and harmful ozone contained in these plumes often have devastating effects on the air quality of US cities and consequently the health of their inhabitants.

Smoke plumes emanating from wildfires are swept high up into the air and spread over thousands of kilometers even days after a fire has been put out. The fine particles and harmful ozone contained in these plumes often have devastating effects on the air quality of US cities and consequently the health of their inhabitants. This is according to Alexandra Larsen of North Carolina State University in the US who led the first ever study taking a long-term look into the effects that wildfire smoke has on air quality across the US. The article appears in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology which is published by Springer Nature.

Since the 1970s, the number of large-scale wildfires in the US, which spread across 10,000 acres (~4000+ hectares) or more, has increased fivefold. This is worrying because exposure to particles and gases associated with wildfire smoke often leads people to be hospitalized with breathing and heart-related problems.

To measure the impact of wildfires on air quality, Larsen and her colleagues analyzed different sources of relevant data collected between 2006 and 2013. The data included the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hazard Mapping System (HMS) that gathers daily satellite information about the presence and spread of smoke plumes.

Also, the researchers referred to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System which monitors air pollution levels at different sites across the US, and levels of ozone and fine particulate matter on a given day. Fine particles and ozone have been linked to a range of health problems.

Larsen and her colleagues found that ozone concentrations were on average 11.1 percent higher on days when plumes were seen than on clear days. Unsurprisingly, fine particle levels were also significantly higher than normal (33.1 percent) on such days.

For Larsen, a striking finding is that the presence of wildfire smoke also had a knock-on effect and the effect was higher for ozone. While plumes had occurred only on 6-7 percent of days, these plumes accounted for 16 percent of unhealthy days due to small particles and 27 percent of unhealthy days due to ozone.

“Smoke-plume days accounted for a disproportionate number of days with elevated air quality index levels, indicating that moderate increases in regional air pollution due to large fires and long-distance transport of smoke can tip the air quality to unhealthy levels,” says Larsen.

The pollutants emanating from wildfire smoke had a greater impact across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas. The windswept plumes caused ozone concentrations over these cities to rise.

“Enhanced ozone production in urban areas is a concern because of the population size potentially impacted and because air pollution levels could be already elevated due to local and mobile sources,” explains Larsen.

via Smoke from wildfires can tip air quality to unhealthy levels: Researchers analyze the long-term impact that wildfire smoke has on air quality in the US — ScienceDaily

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Bad air quality along Utah’s Wasatch Front causes more than 200 pneumonia cases each year

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution trapped by winter inversions along Utah’s Wasatch Front, the state’s most populated region, is estimated to send more than 200 people to the emergency room with pneumonia each year, according to a study by University of Utah Health and Intermountain Healthcare. Bad air quality especially erodes the health of adults over age 65, a population particularly vulnerable to the effects of pneumonia.

“When exposed to elevated levels of particulate pollution, older adults are more likely to get pneumonia, be hospitalized with severe pneumonia and also die from pneumonia in the hospital,” says the study’s lead author Cheryl Pirozzi, M.D., a pulmonologist and assistant professor of Internal Medicine at University of Utah Health. The research findings were published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

Improving air quality would not only keep people out of the hospital, the investigation reports, but would also save up to $1.6 million in health care costs along the Wasatch Front each year.

“The relationship of air pollution to the severity of pneumonia was particularly striking,” says co-author Robert Paine, M.D., a pulmonologist and professor of Internal Medicine at U of U Health. “These are not just theoretical risks, but are important events for real members of our community. This study also shows just the tip of the iceberg of the costs we in Utah bear as a result of air pollution.”

Utah’s Wasatch Front lies between two mountain ranges running from Salt Lake City to Provo and beyond. During the winter months, the region experiences periodic weather inversions that trap emissions along the metropolitan valley. Within days, air pollution worsens as the concentration of small particles rises, at times turning the air into the dirtiest in the country.

Beginning one day after air quality deteriorates, increasing numbers of people end up in the hospital with pneumonia. The increase in cases from a single day of poor air quality can last up to a week.

“It doesn’t have to be sky-high levels of particulate pollution to increase a person’s risk of developing severe pneumonia,” says Pirozzi.

When levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, are less than 12 μg/m3 the air quality is categorized as “good”. During a typical inversion air pollution episode, PM2.5 increases to more than 40 μg/m3, categorized as “unhealthy for sensitive groups”. During these episodes, older adults are approximately 2.5-times more likely to have pneumonia, 2.5-times more likely to have severe pneumonia and triple their likelihood for dying in the hospital with pneumonia, says Pirozzi.

“The extent of the findings surprised us,” says the study’s senior author Nathan C. Dean, M.D., Section Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Intermountain Medical Center and LDS Hospital, and a professor at University of Utah Health. “We were not expecting as large of a signal as we found.”

The investigators gauged the impacts of bad air quality by examining electronic health records from over 4,000 pneumonia patients admitted to 7 Intermountain Healthcare emergency departments along the Wasatch Front over the course of two years. They estimated daily effects of PM 2.5 within a week before presentation on the odds for getting pneumonia, severe pneumonia, and pneumonia related deaths. Concentrations of PM 2.5 were estimated at the patient’s residence, where older adults often spend the majority of their day.

The study attributes more than 100 pneumonia cases requiring hospitalization in the region to poor air quality. The seven facilities serve about half of the population living along the Wasatch Front, extrapolating to more than 200 cases each year.

“The results of our study are a call to action,” says Dean. “Wasatch Front air pollution is not just something to complain about, it is killing us.”

via Bad air quality along Utah’s Wasatch Front causes more than 200 pneumonia cases each year

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Macedonia takes emergency measures against air pollution

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Macedonian authorities have made public transport temporarily free for all in the capital Skopje, as part of a batch of emergency measures to fight high air pollution levels.

The government said Monday that pollution in Skopje was recorded at more than four times above safety levels and that it has decided to ban heavy vehicles entering the city center. It has also excused pregnant women and people over 60 years of age from work.

Skopje has severe air pollution problems every winter, as a result of industrial emissions, smoke from wood-burning stoves and exhaust fumes from old cars.

The measures will remain in effect until pollution levels drop.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

via Macedonia takes emergency measures against air pollution – The Washington Post

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The Air in Sofia is Yet Again Dangerously Dirty

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Once again dirty air in the capital and on weekends. In the past two days, fine particle levels have reached 250 micrograms per cubic meter at an acceptable rate of 50, reports bTV. This shows the data from the airtube.info site of the “Code: Bulgaria” Foundation.

The dirtiest air was in the neighborhoods of Krasna Polyana, Ovcha Kupel, West Park and Buxton. According to experts, 60 per cent of the pollution in the capital is due to road traffic. At the same time, 1/3 of the cars in the capital are outside the eco standards and can be stopped by traffic.

At the end of November last year, the Ministry of the Environment acknowledged that the dirtiest is the air in the neighborhoods where they are heated on solid fuel. Several districts protest against air pollution.

via The Air in Sofia is Yet Again Dangerously Dirty – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency

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Taiwan to phase out fuel-powered motorcycles

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Facing great air pollution pressure, Taiwan aims to phase out fuel-powered motorbikes by 2035.

With a population of some 23 million, Taiwan is home to about 14 million motorcycles, the highest density of motorcycles in the world.

It is estimated that motorcycles contribute more than 20 percent of PM 2.5 discharge in Taiwan.

In response to concern over air pollution, Taiwan launched a scheme to control pollution at the end of 2017, banning fuel-powered motorcycles by 2035 and fuel-powered cars by 2040.

At the beginning of 2018, the island decided to install 3,310 charging stations over the coming five years.

Currently, there are 1,800 charging stations for electric motorcycles installed and the new facilities will bring the total to around 5,000.

Other incentives to switch to electric motorcycles include subsidies, special license plates, dedicated parking lots and parking discounts.

Among the more than one million motorcycles sold in Taiwan in 2017, only 40,000 were electric. The total on the island is only about 100,000.

A recent survey showed that nearly 60 percent of motorcycle users in Taiwan were willing to shift to electric.

via Taiwan to phase out fuel-powered motorcycles – Xinhua | English.news.cn

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Milan and Turin ban automobiles to fight smog and air air pollution

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

A pair of northern ‘s largest cities have introduced traffic restrictions in a bid to tackle  and smog.

Bans on certain types of vehicle have been introduced temporarily in and , both of which have exceeded safe limits for pollution in recent days.

Despite hopes that rain and lower levels of traffic during the holiday season would help combat smog, air pollution has crept to dangerous levels in recent weeks.

A daytime traffic ban has been extended to include relatively clean Euro 5 diesel cars in Turin, as the city raises its air pollution alert level to “red”.

As a result, half-a-million cars and vans will not be able to drive on the city‘s roads between 8am and 7pm every day,  newspaper reported.

In Milan an “orange” warning is in force, limiting vehicles classified as having Euro 4 emission standards or lower. Euro 4 vehicles include petrol cars, vans, minibuses and other specialist vehicles.

There are now similar traffic limitations in place across much of northern Italy. Across the Veneto region, 85 municipalities have introduced similar measures.

Earlier this year, a report from environmental organisation Legambiente, revealed that 25 cities in Italy had this year exceeded the EU’s air quality standards by mid-October.

PM10 pollution, which consists of fine particles less than 10 micrometres in diameter that can easily be inhaled, was a particular problem, it said.

standards dictate that cities should have no more than 35 days of poor air quality, when PM10 levels rise above a threshold amount, every year.

In Turin safe limits have been exceeded for 15 consecutive days.

Restrictions on cars are not new to Italy and  have previously attempted to address the country’s air pollution problem by implementing vehicle bans.

Current bans follow a trend of particularly poor air quality in the “industrial triangle” of northern Italian cities.

Between January and mid-October, Turin had 66 days of poor air quality and Milan had 50. Other cities with extended periods of excessive pollution include Venice, Cremona and Padova.

Further east in Verona, a ban has been implemented on stoves and fireplaces in an effort to curb its levels of pollutants.

As bad weather continues, there are hopes it will help to alleviate the air pollution problem and allow local politicians to lift the temporary bans.

Verona‘s environment councillor Ilaria Segala told the  newspaper that Arpav, the environmental protection body for the Veneto region, was unlikely to “trigger further restrictive measures” when it releases its new bulletin later this week, because of the weather forecast for the next few days.

via Milan and Turin ban automobiles to fight smog and air air pollution | Kaplan Herald

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Arctic clouds highly sensitive to air pollution

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

A study by atmospheric scientists has found that the air in the Arctic is extraordinarily sensitive to air pollution, and that particulate matter may spur Arctic cloud formation. These clouds can act as a blanket, further warming an already-changing Arctic.

In 1870, explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, trekking across the barren and remote ice cap of Greenland, saw something most people wouldn’t expect in such an empty, inhospitable landscape: haze.

Nordenskiöld’s record of the haze was among the first evidence that air pollution around the northern hemisphere can travel toward the pole and degrade air quality in the Arctic. Now, a study from University of Utah atmospheric scientist Tim Garrett and colleagues finds that the air in the Arctic is extraordinarily sensitive to air pollution, and that particulate matter may spur Arctic cloud formation. These clouds, Garrett writes, can act as a blanket, further warming an already-changing Arctic.

“The Arctic climate is delicate, just as the ecosystems present there,” Garrett says. “The clouds are right at the edge of their existence and they have a big impact on local climate. It looks like clouds there are especially sensitive to air pollution.” The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Pollution heading north

Garrett says that early Arctic explorers’ notes show that air pollution has been traveling northward for nearly 150 years or more. “This pollution would naturally get blown northward because that’s the dominant circulation pattern to move from lower latitudes toward the poles,” he says. Once in the Arctic, the pollution becomes trapped under a temperature inversion, much like the inversions that Salt Lake City experiences every winter. In an inversion, a cap of warm air sits over a pool of cold air, preventing the accumulated bad air from escaping.

Others have studied which regions contribute to Arctic pollution. Northeast Asia is a significant contributor. So are sources in the far north of Europe. “They have far more direct access to the Arctic,” Garrett says. “Pollution sources there don’t get diluted throughout the atmosphere.”

Scientists have been interested in the effects of pollution on Arctic clouds because of their potential warming effect. In other parts of the world, clouds can cool the surface because their white color reflects solar energy back out into space. “In the Arctic, the cooling effect isn’t as large because the sea-ice at the surface is already bright,” Garrett says. “Just as clouds reflect radiation efficiently, they also absorb radiation efficiently and re-emit that energy back to warm the surface.” Droplets of water can form around particulate matter in the air. More particles make for more droplets, which makes for a cloud that warms the surface more.

Seeing through the clouds

But quantifying the relationship between air pollution and clouds has been difficult. Scientists can only sample air pollution in clouds by flying through them, a method that can’t cover much ground or a long time period. Satellite images can detect aerosol pollution in the air — but not through clouds. “We’ll look at the clouds at one place and hope that the aerosols nearby are representative of the aerosols where the cloud is,” says Garrett. “They’re not going to be. The cloud is there because it’s in a different meteorological air mass than where the clear sky is.”

So Garrett and his colleagues, including U graduate Quentin Coopman, needed a different approach. Atmospheric models, it turns out, do a good job of tracking the movements of air pollution around the Earth. Using global inventories of pollution sources, they simulate air pollution plumes so that satellites can observe what happens when these modeled plumes interact with Arctic clouds. The model allowed the researchers to study air pollution and clouds at the same time and place and also take into account the meteorological conditions. They could be sure the effects they were seeing weren’t just natural meteorological variations in normal cloud-forming conditions.

Highly sensitive clouds

The research team found that clouds in the Arctic were two to eight times more sensitive to air pollution than clouds at other latitudes. They don’t know for sure why yet, but hypothesize it may have to do with the stillness of the Arctic air mass. Without the air turbulence seen at mid-latitudes, the Arctic air can be easily perturbed by airborne particulates.

One factor the clouds were not sensitive to, however, was smoke from forest fires. “It’s not that forest fires don’t have the potential,” Garrett says, “it’s just that the plumes from these fires didn’t end up in the same place as clouds.” Air pollution attributable to human activities outpaced the influence of forest fires on Arctic clouds by a factor of around 100:1.

This gives Garrett hope. Particulate matter is an airborne pollutant that can be controlled relatively easily, compared to pollutants like carbon dioxide. Controlling current particulate matter sources could ease pollution in the Arctic, decrease cloud cover, and slow down warming. All of those gains could be offset, other researchers have suggested, if the Arctic becomes a shipping route and sees industrialization and development. Emissions from those activities could have a disproportionate effect on Arctic clouds compared to emissions from other parts of the world, Garrett says.

“The Arctic is changing incredibly rapidly,” he says. “Much more rapidly than the rest of the world, which is changing rapidly enough.”

via Arctic clouds highly sensitive to air pollution — ScienceDaily

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Severe air pollution chokes Mongolia amid harsh winters

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

With thousands of families burning coal to survive in arctic temperatures, Mongolia is now home to the most poisonous air on the planet.

Air pollution in China and India often makes international headlines, but in one country air quality is even worse.

With thousands of families burning coal to survive in arctic temperatures, Mongolia is now home to the most poisonous air on the planet.

For Baasanjargal Batbaatar,  a single mother of four, coal brings the only warmth they can afford. But it’s coming at a price.

“The first time I almost lost my daughter was last winter. I went to the next room to feed my son and when I returned, she was suffocating. Her eyes rolled back. The diagnosis: asthma,” Batbaatar said.

The hazardous haze is mainly caused by household stoves making Mongolia’s air pollution up to 80 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit.

Children and newborns are worst hit.

“A recent study indicated that during the winter of 2014-2015, there was a five-fold increase in the rate of still-births, with a near perfect correlation to air pollution,” said Alex Heikens, resident representative of UNICEF in Mongolia.

via Severe air pollution chokes Mongolia amid harsh winters

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