Fort McMurray fires cause air pollution spike on other side of continent 

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Smoke from Alberta fire was so massive the plumes created their own environmental system

The huge wildfire in Fort McMurray last year caused air pollution to spike as far away as the New England states, more than 4,000 kilometres away, experts say.

“It was such a wide swath,” said Michael Geigert, air quality meteorologist with Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Geigert says he was surprised that normally clean air from Canada was carrying such high levels of ozone. It is a clear example, say scientists, of how air pollution from wildfires can be transported long distances.

Pollution levels spiked so much that seven U.S. states applied to the country’s federal Environmental Protection Agency for a special exemption for pollution levels that exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Geigert led the effort, making the case that airborne chemicals created by the Alberta fire created high levels of ozone on the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

“High pressure trapped pollutants from the wildfire over the upper Great Lakes for several days before normally clean northwest winds transported ‘unhealthy’ levels of ozone to the east and southeast across New York State and then to Connecticut,” the state wrote in its case to the EPA earlier this year.

The Fort McMurray fire forced the largest evacuation in Alberta’s history as it destroyed 590,000 hectares and 2,400 buildings. It was declared under control on July 5, 2016 but wasn’t fully extinguished until over a year later on August 2, 2017.

Geigert said the worst conditions were between May 25 and 28, 2016, when massive plumes of smoke billowed into the Alberta air. That smoke contained a toxic cocktail of chemicals that mixed with sunlight to create ozone.

“In this case, they were elevated almost to the stratosphere, well above 10,000 feet, 20,000 feet,” he said in an interview with CBC News.

“They created their own environment, almost thunderstorms, so they were transported high into the atmosphere.This allowed the plume to be transported very far away.”

Ozone becomes a dangerous air pollutant when it drops near the ground and mixes with heat. That happened in late May 2016 when the ozone drifted towards the northeastern U.S. states at the same time as summer temperatures soared. Ozone levels rose in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Ohio.

Air quality already poor

New England states already struggle with high levels of air pollution because air currents carry emissions from coal-burning power plants and industrial sources from states in the south and midwest. Geigert says the Fort McMurray fire tipped the air pollution levels in Connecticut into the danger zone.

“It was code red — eight-hour averages over 84 parts per billion, and that is considered unhealthy for the general population,” said Geigert.

“Very little is due to what Connecticut does. It’s due to all sources upwind,” he said. “And these forest fires, which no one has any control over, just exacerbate the situation.”

The air quality on the other side of Canada was also affected, according to Paul Makar, a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“The pollutants will travel thousands of kilometres,” said Makar in an interview with CBC News.

“For the Fort McMurray fires, for that matter, we’ve seen on satellite data … the pollution going all the way from Alberta right through here where we are in Ontario, out over the Atlantic and on the way to Europe.”

Makar says the rise of ozone levels in Canada due to the fires was less drastic than in the U.S. because the baseline air pollution here was at a lower level.

Makar points out that wildfires can have a huge impact on local air quality, as they did in B.C. this past summer when wildfires combined to create the largest blaze in the province’s history.

And the increased ozone levels have made their way downwind, Makar says.

“You can certainly see the effect. What we are seeing from the summer, it is just as bad as the Fort Mac fire, or worse.

“This stuff kills people,” he said.

Environment Canada has set up a team to monitor wildfires and the effects of their emissions on air quality. The agency has also set up a website where Canadians can check “smoke forecast maps” that show how the air quality in their area may be affected by wildfire smoke.

The EPA ruled in July 2017 that the Connecticut wasn’t to blame for its spike in ozone.

Still, the Fort McMurray fire experience has made scientists in Connecticut a lot more wary about what might be drifting their way from Canada.

Geigert has been keeping an eye on the smoke from the B.C. fires. More than 100 wildfires are still burning there, although evacuation orders and alerts have been lifted.

Geigert says much cooler temperatures in New England have kept ozone levels low this year, but he’s still watching for warning signs.

“We have to realize this long-distance transport is really a factor and warn the public if we see it unfolding,” he said.

Source: Fort McMurray fires cause air pollution spike on other side of continent – Politics – CBC News

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Hadapsar, Navi peth, Mandai have the worst air quality in Pune 

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Besides chemical pollutants, particulate matter is also above the standard level prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board.

In an alarming revelation, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s environment status report (ESR) 2016-17 claimed that Hadapsar has been recorded as one of the most polluted regions in the city followed by Navi peth.

PMC’s environment status report 2016-17 shows that air pollutants like Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Nitrogen Oxide (NO) and particulate matter were seen to have crossed the standard permissible limit set by the Central Pollution Control Board.

As per the data released by Pune Municipal Corporation, the areas where Nitrogen Oxide was found to have been above the average level includes Hadapsar, Navi peth and Mandai. The standard permissible limit for Nitrogen Oxide is said to be 40ug/m^3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air) while in Hadapsar area it is found to be 60ug/m^3.

Apart from this, Nitrogen Dioxide, too, is found to be above the standard permissible level in areas including Pashan, Lohegaon, Shivajinagar, Katraj and Hadapsar. This increase in Nitrogen Dioxide was recorded especially during the month of November.

According to the report, the other important factor which is above the standard average level is the dust particulate matter present in the air.

The report states that dust particles of up to 10 microns and 2.5 microns are found to be more in the air. The report added that even as their levels were found to be decreasing since 2011, they are still above the standard permissible level laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board.

The presence of Carbon Monoxide (CO) in the air was found to be below the standard value of 2ug/m^3 in the city. Yet in January and February this year its presence was more compared to last year. However, Carbon Monoxide was found mainly in areas like Shivajinagar, Hadapsar and Katraj.

Similar to Carbon Monoxide, the proportion of Sulphur oxides in the air is also said to be rising. Although, it is still found to be below the standard level laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board, the increasing number of vehicles is inturn increasing the levels of Sulphur-based pollutants in the air.

According to Dr Mahendra Kawedia of Jehangir hospital, the rise in air pollutants is affecting the health of citizens in various ways. He said, “Over the years, cases of bronchitis and asthama have been on the rise. With rising air pollution, people who are more susceptible to it start suffering from lung problems and sometimes these diseases become chronic.”

Dr Sanjay Gaikwad from Sassoon General Hospital, too, said that rising air pollution level is a serious concern as the percentage of airborne diseases is significantly growing in the city, thus putting the lives of the residents at risk.

Rising number of wheels worsen city health

With over 40 lakh vehicles registered in Pune, the city is also witnessing rise in factors contributing to its increasing air pollution levels.

The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) environment status report for 2016-17 clearly shows that air pollutants, including Nitrogen Oxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide and particulate matter in the air are constantly increasing.

Many of these pollutants, including particulate matter, Nitrogen Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide, are found to be above the standard set by the Central Pollution Control Board. Other pollutants, including Sulphur Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide, are below the standard permissible levels, but are still rising.

According to the statistics available with the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Pune, close to two lakh new vehicles are seen on city roads every year. The total number of vehicles registered in Pune till July this year is 43,30,635. Out of these 25,07,428 are two-wheelers while 6,07,886 are four-wheelers.

Speaking about this rising air pollution in the city, PMC’s environment officer Mangesh Dighe told Hindustan Times that this rise in air pollutants is mainly because of the rise in the number of vehicles in the city.

“Pollutants like Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Monoxide and Sulphur are a result of the smoke emitted from the vehicle’s exhaust. With rising number of vehicles on the roads, these pollutants are also rising,” added Dighe.

He further stated that even as various industries also contribute to rise in air pollutants, those kind of industries are not there in the vicinity of Pune in large numbers.

“Pune mainly has assembling industries or service industries which do not release pollutants like Sulphur, Nitrogen Oxide or Carbon Monoxide. Hence, the only major factors for rising air pollution are the vehicles, “ he added.

He further stated that with this rise in number of vehicles, the dust also does not settle and keeps floating in the air, thus increasing levels of particulate matter in the air.

Dighe stated that the Bharat Stage IV vehicles are seen to cause less pollution compared to the older vehicles which are still seen in large numbers on the roads.

“If vehicles use alternate fuels like CNG or LPG, then this rise in air pollution can be controlled as these are clean fuels. Hence, the use of CNG and LPG needs to be popularised in the city,” he added.

Environmentalist Vinod Bodhankar stated that apart from the air pollution caused due to vehicles, a significant component in the particulate matter present in the air comes from burning of plastic. He stressed on the need to reduce plastic consumption as only seven per cent to nine per cent of the plastic is genuinely recycled.

The number of vehicles in the city has seen a constant rise with growing population. The population of Pune, whihc was 35 lakh in 211 has increased to 45 lakh in 2017. The absence of a proper public transport system in Pune has propelled the number of private vehicles, particularly two-wheelers.

Source: Hadapsar, Navi peth, Mandai have the worst air quality in Pune | pune news | Hindustan Times

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Medellín’s pollution is having deadly effects

Posted on September 25, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

The pollution in Colombia’s second largest city of Medellín is a health care crisis, according to National Faculty of Public Health researcher Elkin Martínez. In a study based upon DANE data from 1980 to 2012, Martinez has shown that one person dies every three hours in Medellín due to air pollution. This study considers casualties derived from chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, and strokes.

Most troubling, the data used in the study showed an alarming and rapid rise in deaths related to pollution, culminating in 2012, the final year of the study. In that year, 3,000 out of 15,000 fatalities in the city were reportedly caused by the high levels of contaminants found the city’s air.

“This represents ten times the deaths from victims of traffic accidents”, Martinez said. “However these deaths (from air pollution) are silent and no one ever relates them back to their true cause”, he added.

In the period of analysis, obstructive chronic pulmonary disease deaths increased five-fold from 200 to 1000 annually, and lung cancer mortality nearly doubled from 11.8% to 21.4%. That mortality rate now represents 3.4 times the rate of neighboring Bogotá and 3.6 times that of the United States. Data from the study only runs through 2012, and research has indicated that pollution has only accelerated in subsequent years.

Medellín’s rapid growth, due both to economic growth and the lack of job opportunities in the city’s countryside, has led to an explosion of population growth and accelerated urbanization of the city. That increase has included a rapid increase in the number of vehicles.

“Chronic respiratory disease is often associated with permanent exposure to tobacco and smoke from wood, but this data shows that smoking has notably decreased in recent years. However, the number of vehicles has quadrupled in the last decade and now 80% of the toxic substances in Medellín’s air come from vehicles”, Ramirez pointed out, showing that the number of vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants rose from 50 to 350 from 1985 to 2015. In all of Antioquia, from 2005 to 2015, the number of vehicles increased from 478,000 to 1,347,000

Despite the evidence that Ramirez has presented, Colombian authorities are skeptical of the impact of vehicles on air quality. Eugenio Prieto, who oversees the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley, spoke out to defend the city’s policies.

“To say that so many people die from air pollution is just speculation. Studies performed are not focused on environmental causes, but epidemiologic. Therefore, it is not conclusive”, he said.

Despite the criticism of Martínez’s studies, it represents the most comprehensive study yet of the health effects due to air pollution on Medellín’s population. While Martínez attributes one out of five deaths in Medellín to air pollution, the government reports half that number.

The WHO signed an agreement with the University of Antioquia this past December to further study the issue in Medellín along with the other 9 municipalities which constitute Aburrá’s Valley. The study is not expected to be completed for several years.

Source: Medellín’s pollution is having deadly effects

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EU auditors to assess anti-pollution efforts by testing Brussels air 

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

The European Court of Auditors is to embark on a comprehensive review of the European Union’s efforts to curb air pollution, the main environmental cause of premature deaths in the EU, the court said on Thursday (21 September).

The Luxembourg-based Court will look into the effectiveness of current EU policies on tackling air pollution. Air quality in six European cities will be tested as part of the audit, including in Brussels, the heart of the EU. The audit is scheduled to take place over the next few months and the Court hopes to publish its findings in mid-2018.

In a preparatory statement on the forthcoming investigation, the auditors revealed that investigations will be carried out in urban areas most affected by air pollution. They will take place in Brussels, Sofia, Ostrava (Czech Republic), Stuttgart, Milan and Krakow.

The chosen test venues include the often-congested capital of the EU; an urban area in one of the newest states; a city at the heart of the German car industry; and Krakow, where smog levels are so bad that living there is equivalent to smoking 4,000 cigarettes a year, according to a recent study.

ClientEarth lawyer Anna Heslop welcomed the forthcoming report and called on the Commission to be “stronger in holding member states accountable”, adding that “this issue affects countries across Europe beyond the six countries being assessed”.

In its audit brief, the Auditors pointed out that research shows that fine particulate matter was responsible for 436,000 premature deaths in the EU in 2013, while nitrogen oxide and ground-level ozone claimed the lives of 68,000 and 16,000 citizens, respectively.

Air pollution has become a topic of grave public concern as scientific research continues to show the huge toll bad air quality has on citizens’ health. One study recently showed that air pollution can be as bad for unborn babies as when expecting mothers smoke.

European Environment Bureau policy officer Margherita Tolotto insisted that we “shouldn’t need another report to persuade national governments to act”.

“We know the solutions: cut wasted energy by improving efficiency, stop burning fossil fuels – especially coal, close the most polluting power plants and take old diesel cars off of the road,” she said.

Pollution in its many forms will form the basis of the United Nations Environment Assembly’s end-of-year summit in Nairobi under the title of ‘Towards a pollution-free planet’.

It aims to produce a political declaration linked to the Sustainable Development Goals and kick-start global action on curbing pollution, along the lines of its successful work on limiting mercury pollution under the Minamata Convention.

The Court’s mandate is to investigate how the EU spends its money. Significant sums of taxpayer money are invested in air quality improvement measures, including co-financing of projects through the European Structural and Investment Fund (EFSI), research programmes and the LIFE programme.

Under the Ambient Air Quality Directive, common measurement techniques have been established, as well as EU-wide criteria for assessing air quality and limits on air pollutant concentration.

Its report will serve as a basis for a wider European report on air quality that is currently ongoing within the scope of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, which is also scheduled for publishing mid next year.

Source: EU auditors to assess anti-pollution efforts by testing Brussels air – EURACTIV.com

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Air pollution may have damaging effects on the kidneys

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Highlight

  • In a study of US veterans, researchers found a linear relationship between air pollution levels and risk of experiencing kidney function decline and of developing kidney disease or kidney failure.
  • Air quality remains suboptimal in many parts of the United States and in multiple regions around the world.

Studies have shown that air pollution can have negative effects on cardiovascular health and life expectancy. Now new research indicates that it is also harmful to the kidneys. The study, which appears in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), reveals that the effects on the kidneys are seen at low levels of particulate matter and increase linearly with rising levels of pollution.

Information on the relationship between air pollution and kidney disease is very scarce. To investigate, a team led by Ziyad Al-Aly, MD (Director of Clinical Epidemiology at the VA Saint Louis Health Care System) linked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs databases to examine information on 2,482,737 US veterans who were followed for a median of 8.5 years. Air pollution levels were also assessed using space-borne sensors from NASA satellites.

The researchers found a linear relationship between air pollution levels and risk of experiencing kidney function decline and of developing kidney disease or kidney failure. The results suggest that each year in the United States, 44,793 new cases of CKD and 2438 new cases of kidney failure are attributed to particulate matter air pollution exceeding the EPA’s recommended limit of 12 μg/m3.

“Even levels below the limit set by the EPA were harmful to the kidneys,” noted Dr. Al-Aly. “This suggests that there is no safe level of air pollution.” He noted that the burden is not evenly distributed geographically: the highest toll seems to be in southern California and in large swaths of the Midwest, the Northeast, and the South. Of course the findings have implications outside the United States and may help explain the substantial variation in the burden of kidney disease observed around the world.

Source: Air pollution may have damaging effects on the kidneys | EurekAlert! Science News

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More Than 16 Mln Russians Are Breathing Polluted Air

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

More than 16 million residents of Russia’s largest cities are breathing polluted air, an annual Natural Resources and Environment Ministry report cited by the Kommersant daily on Thursday suggests.

Russia’s fledgling post-Soviet environmental protection movement has been hampered in recent years by corruption, lax enforcement of laws and a crackdown on advocacy groups. Russia ranked 32 out of 180 countries in the 2016 environmental performance index compiled by Yale University.

The Environment Ministry’s report estimates that 16.4 million people, or 15 percent of Russia’s urban population, are exposed to air pollution.

More than three-quarters of city dwellers in the Siberian regions of Buryatia, Khabarovsk and Taimyr are vulnerable to high levels of air pollution, according to the report.

Pollutants in the industrial cities of Krasnoyarsk and Magnitogorsk were found to exceed maximum permissible levels by 30 times, according to the report cited by Kommersant.

Other major contaminated cities include the mining and smelting center Norilsk, which was recently ranked among the 10 most polluted places on earth.

Overall emissions in Russia totaled 31.6 million metric tons last year, representing 1.1-percent growth compared to 2015. Industrial emissions accounted for more than half of that figure, followed by air pollution from vehicles.

The Moscow region leads the country in vehicle emissions, accounting for one-eighth of all pollutants released by vehicles. Kommersant reported in January that vehicles cause up to 80 percent of air pollution in major Russian cities.

The ministry report names the North Caucasus cities of Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria, as well as Sevastopol in Crimea, as Russia’s cleanest cities, but noted growing pollution in all three cities in 2016.

Source: More Than 16 Mln Russians Are Breathing Polluted Air

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Timaru to clear the air: Council brings in burner ban 

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

A plan to tackle air pollution in Canterbury has been approved by the regional council, but councillors say it will not be fining people straight away.

It includes a ban on log burners more than 15 years old in Timaru.

The council’s Canterbury Air Plan said some areas suffer from poor air quality, partly because of the burning of wood and coal. In 2016 the World Health Organisation found that Timaru had the worst air pollution in Oceania.

About 100 Timaru residents met Environment Minister Nick Smith earlier this week to voice their concerns about the ban, with many saying their log burners are not responsible for poor air quality.

But councillor Peter Scott said the council would not be immediately fining people who do not replace their old burners.

“We’re not going to chase people, we’re not going to come down hard on people.

“We know that it is an issue, it’s an issue in terms of the people in Timaru – how soon they can put those burners into those houses – and we know that is taking a long time.

“There’s a lot of burners to be replaced down there, between 2000 and 3000 possibly.”

Councillor Peter Skelton told today’s meeting the plan has been worked on for several years, and has gone through a substantial review process.

The plan, and the log burner ban, comes into effect at the end of next month.

Source: Timaru to clear the air: Council brings in burner ban | Radio New Zealand News

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Air pollution: A threat to your heart and longevity? 

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

New research links “safe” levels of air pollution to premature death.

Every day, you inhale thousands of gallons of air — mostly nitrogen, oxygen, and a smattering of other gases. But that air also contains tiny particles spewed from power plants, industrial factories, and vehicles. These pollutants can trigger heart attacks, strokes, and irregular heart rhythms, especially in people who already have or who are at risk for heart disease.

And even though the air we breathe is much cleaner today than it was in the 1970s, there’s still room for improvement. In fact, a major Harvard study recently found that air pollution kills thousands of people in the United States each year, even at pollution levels currently allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (see “Something in the air: Regulating pollution”).

“If we cleaned up the air even more, we could prolong people’s lives,” says Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, editor-in-chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, where the study (and an editorial he co-authored) was published on June 29, 2017.

Something in the air: Regulating pollution

In 1970, the Clean Air Act was amended to institute National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which set exposure limits for six major air pollutants. Most comes from car and truck exhaust, power plants, refineries, and other industrial factories. Wildfires and wood-burning stoves also contribute to air pollution.

From a health standpoint, the most worrisome pollutants are tiny soot particles that are so small that 100 could sit side-by-side across the period at the end of this sentence and still have room for more. They are called particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers, or PM2.5 for short. Ground-level ozone, which forms when gas pollutants react with heat and sunlight, is also a concern.

The current NAAQS for particle pollutants, last updated in 2012, set the yearly average level of PM2.5 at 12 micrograms per cubic meter. In 2015, the ozone standard was set at 70 parts per billion (ppb), but the study described in the main text used a cutoff of 50 ppb.

Air pollution’s deadly toll

The study included data from nearly all of the nation’s Medicare recipients — some 60 million people, all ages 65 or older. Using information from federal air monitoring stations and satellites, researchers compiled a detailed picture of air pollution levels, pinpointing areas down to individual ZIP codes. They then analyzed the impact of very low levels of air pollution on death rates.

The results suggest that lowering the levels of tiny particulate matter (known as PM2.5) nationwide by just one microgram per cubic meter of air below current standards could save as many as 12,000 lives each year, the researchers concluded. Similarly, lowering ozone levels by just one part per billion nationwide could save an estimated 1,900 lives each year.

While the researchers didn’t report the causes of death, cardiovascular disease accounts for one of every three deaths in this country. And there’s a clear, established biological link between air pollution and heart disease, notes Dr. Drazen. Fine particles pass through the lungs into the circulation, activating immune cells called macrophages. These cells are intimately involved in the creation of artery-clogging plaque, which interferes with blood flow, potentially triggering a heart attack or stroke, says Dr. Drazen, who is also a professor of environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The evidence is strong enough that the American Heart Association has advocated for measures that lower Americans’ exposure to air pollution and for more research on the impact of air pollution on public health.

Steps toward solutions

To limit your exposure to air pollution, avoid exercising outdoors near busy roads or industrial areas. Older people and those with asthma or other lung conditions may want to keep tabs on the local air quality index, a color-coded scale for pollution levels that’s often reported by local news outlets; you can also find it at http://www.epa.gov/airnow.

In addition, you can take steps to reduce pollution by bicycling or walking instead of driving when possible, and by purchasing a hybrid or electric car, says Dr. Drazen. Another suggestion: choose nonpolluting renewable energy from your local electricity supplier — an option that’s available many places in the United States. “If we all work together to support legislation that helps clean up the air, that will be in everyone’s best interest,” says Dr. Drazen.

Invisible but audible: Noise pollution hazards

Trains, planes, and automobiles generate not only air pollution, but also a lot of noise. A number of studies suggest that chronic exposure to environmental noise — such as traffic and aircraft noise — may raise blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular events. A 2015 report in Environmental Research that pooled findings from 10 studies suggested that every 10-decibel (dB) increase in noise above that of an average conversation noise level (50 dB) might slightly raise a person’s risk of heart disease. The cumulative effect of excess noise may increase stress hormones and may also disrupt sleep, both of which can contribute to heart disease, experts say.

Source: Air pollution: A threat to your heart and longevity? – Harvard Health

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