Only Euro-5 Vehicles Will Be Registered in 2019 

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Only Euro-5-compliant vehicles will be registered as of March 2019, the head of the Department of Environment said.

“Since 2014-15, the government only allows vehicles with Euro-4-compliant engines to be registered and this will continue until 2019-20 when the emission standards will be raised to Euro-5,” Massoumeh Ebtekar was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

The move is in line with efforts to reduce air pollution in Iran’s metropolises.

Ebtekar, who is also a vice president, said a total of 7 million cars and motorcycles ply the streets of Iran’s polluted capital, Tehran.

“It will be a disaster if these vehicles don’t meet minimum emission standards,” she warned.

In line with plans to reduce air pollution, Euro-4 standard fuel is distributed in 15 metropolises and 10 provincial capitals. The government is targeting nationwide distribution by 2020.

A comprehensive scheme was devised in 2000 to effectively rein in air pollution in Tehran and other metropolises, but the plan was shelved by the government of former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As a result, air pollution turned into a major environmental issue in the summer of 2013, when the present administration came to power.

The plan called for removing old and dilapidated gas-guzzlers off the roads, implementing measures for collecting toxic gasoline vapors at filling stations, promoting compressed natural gas as a cleaner and cheaper fuel, expanding the number of CNG stations and conducting mandatory vehicle inspections, among other things. Along with efforts to increase gasoline quality, President Hassan Rouhani’s administration has instructed automakers to make products that comply with Euro-4 emission standards.

The government banned the production of highly-polluting, carburetor-equipped motorcycles from September 2016 and is urging people to opt for eco-friendly electric motorbikes.

Acknowledging the non-stop efforts of authorities on standardization of vehicles, Ebtekar said, “We expect the Oil Ministry to produce Euro-5 or better quality fuel.”

DOE has declared that Iran’s seemingly unending struggle with air pollution costs the people about $30 billion a year, nearly double the $16 billion reported by the World Health Organization in 2014.

With 26,000 annual deaths due to air pollution, Iran ranks 16th in terms of air pollution-related deaths, according to figures released by WHO.

Source: Only Euro-5 Vehicles Will Be Registered in 2019 | Financial Tribune

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Rush hour pollution may be more dangerous than you think: In-car air study of commuting cars finds dangers to human health 

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Everyone knows that exposure to pollution during rush hour traffic can be hazardous to your health, but it’s even worse than previously thought. In-car measurements of pollutants that cause oxidative stress found exposure levels for drivers to be twice as high as previously believed.

The first in-car measurements of exposure to pollutants that cause oxidative stress during rush hour commutes has turned up potentially alarming results. The levels of some forms of harmful particulate matter inside car cabins was found to be twice as high as previously believed.

Most traffic pollution sensors are placed on the ground alongside the road and take continuous samples for a 24-hour period. Exhaust composition, however, changes rapidly enough for drivers to experience different conditions inside their vehicles than these roadside sensors. Long-term sampling also misses nuanced variabilities caused by road congestion and environmental conditions.

To explore what drivers are actually exposed to during rush hour, researchers from Duke University, Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology strapped specially designed sampling devices into the passenger seats of cars during morning rush hour commutes in downtown Atlanta.

The devices detected up to twice as much particulate matter as the roadside sensors. The team also found that the pollution contained twice the amount of chemicals that cause oxidative stress, which is thought to be involved in the development of many diseases including respiratory and heart disease, cancer, and some types of neurodegenerative diseases.

The results were published on June 27 in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

“We found that people are likely getting a double whammy of exposure in terms of health during rush-hour commutes,” said Michael Bergin, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke. “If these chemicals are as bad for people as many researchers believe, then commuters should seriously be rethinking their driving habits.”

For the experiment, Roby Greenwald, a research assistant professor at Emory at the time, built a sampling device that draws in air at a similar rate to human lungs to provide detectable levels of pollution. The device was then secured to the passenger seats of more than 30 different cars as they completed more than 60 rush hour commutes.

Some drivers took highway routes while others stuck to busy thoroughfares in downtown Atlanta. While other details like speed and having windows rolled down varied, all of the sampling found more risk in air exposure than previous studies conducted with roadside sampling devices.

“There are a lot of reasons an in-car air sample would find higher levels of certain kinds of air pollution,” said Heidi Vreeland, a doctoral student in Bergin’s lab and first author of the paper. “The chemical composition of exhaust changes very quickly, even in the space of just a few feet. And morning sun heats the roadways, which causes an updraft that brings more pollution higher into the air.”

Reactive oxygen species found by this study can cause the body to produce chemicals to deal with the reactive oxygen. Particulate matter causes the same response. In combination, the exposure triggers an overreaction that can be destructive to healthy cells and DNA.

Oxidative stress — the phenomenon antioxidant foods are supposed to address — is thought to play a role in a wide range of diseases including Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, heart failure and heart attack, sickle cell disease, autism, infection, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression.

“There’s still a lot of debate about what types of pollution are cause for the biggest concern and what makes them so dangerous,” Bergin said. “But the bottom line is that driving during rush hour is even worse than we thought.”

“My two cents is that this is really an urban planning failure,” said Greenwald, who is now an assistant professor of environmental health at Georgia State University. “In the case of Atlanta, the poor air quality on the highways is due to the fact that 6 million people live in the metro area, and most of them have little choice but to get into an automobile to go to work or school or the store or wherever. Auto-centric transportation plans do not scale well to cities of this size, and this is one more example of how traffic negatively affects your health.”

Source: Rush hour pollution may be more dangerous than you think: In-car air study of commuting cars finds dangers to human health — ScienceDaily

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Vehicle inspection system becomes stricter

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Cars are now being checked up stricter in vehicle inspection centers across the country with a focus on catalyst inspection and emissions control, the deputy chief of Iran’s Department of Environment said.

Prior to this, the inspection of vehicles was done according to a bill adopted 22 years ago and the upgraded standards were not considered in the vehicle inspection system, ISNA quoted Saeed Motesaddi as saying.

“Nowadays, cars have more efficient systems for emissions control. So, we should update the inspection system as well,” he added.

Motesaddi expressed his hope that people would welcome the new vehicle inspection system and have their cars checked up to meet the latest standards.

“I hope that the new system would decrease air pollution by 10 percent,” he said.

He also pointed out to the inauguration of an integrated vehicle inspection system in Tehran, through which the traffic police can detect any violation and enforce the law by seeing whether vehicles display up-to-date decals stickers using special cameras.

As cars are now a part of our daily life and they release substantial amounts of chemicals they appeared to be one of the main culprits for the persisting air pollution in the metropolises of Iran.

Majlis (the parliament) has tasked responsible organizations and executive bodies with combating and eliminating air pollution. In this line, the Department of Environment has been authorized to shut down pollutant industries worsening the effects of air pollution in metropolises and decreased the vehicle inspection five-year interval to four years.

Source: Vehicle inspection system becomes stricter – Tehran Times

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Vietnam’s major cities choking as air pollution exacerbates: government study 

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Urban areas are polluted by transportation, industrial production and daily activities.

Air pollution has been getting worse across Vietnam over the past five years, breaching acceptable levels in the country’s major cities, according to a government report released on Thursday.

From 2012-2016, the total suspended particles (TSP) level, which is used to measure the mass concentration of particulate matter (PM) in the air, exceeded safe levels by 2-3 times in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, and 1.5-2 times in other cities.

In its air quality guidelines, the World Health Organization says levels of fine particles known as PM2.5 should not be more than 10 micrograms per cubic meter on average over a year, and slightly larger pollutants, called PM10, should not reach more than 20 micrograms per cubic meter on average.

The government report said that these indicators were exceeded 20 percent of the time in Hanoi and HCMC.

Hoang Duong Tung, a senior environment official, said urban areas in Vietnam are being polluted by transportation, industrial production and daily activities.

“PM2.5 can get into the lungs and cause a number of diseases, including lung cancer,” he was quoted as saying in a VietnamPlus report on Thursday.

Official data from the health ministry shows 3-4 percent of the country’s population contract respiratory diseases every year, mostly in urban areas.

In April, a study by the Hanoi-based Green Innovation and Development Center found that ambient air pollution in Hanoi exceeded the WHO’s standards on 78 days from January to March, which matches the government’s new report.

The study also said air quality in Ho Chi Minh City was better than in Hanoi, but ambient air pollution also exceeded the WHO limit on 78 days.

There are more than five million motorbikes on Hanoi’s roads, and 19,000 new vehicles are registered each month. Around 140 new cars and 750 new motorbikes are also registered every day in Saigon, Vietnam’s most crowded city with a population of 12 million people.

Deaths attributable to dangerous air particles in Vietnam jumped 60 percent from 26,300 in 1990 to 42,200 in 2015, according to the study conducted by the Health Effects Institute, a Boston research facility focused on the health impacts of air pollution, and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle.

Ambient particulate matter ranks fifth among fatal risk factors around the world, after high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol.

Source: Vietnam’s major cities choking as air pollution exacerbates: government study – VnExpress International

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Germany wrestles with diesel’s future as large cities plan bans

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Germany is wrestling over the future of the diesel, with proposals for driving bans in some cities to reduce air pollution clashing with an industry that employs scores of workers.

With some urban areas failing European Union air-quality standards, Munich, Stuttgart and Hamburg are among big cities in the country considering restricting older diesels.

Carmakers are lobbying instead for fixes to engines, which could affect as many as 13 million diesels. Weighing in with their own views are state and federal authorities — as well as German courts.

Local courts, which are considering various complaints about excessive emissions, are taking action to compel cities to enact driving bans as limits on pollution are breached.

“The cost of treating diesel exhaust is simply too high and carmakers have lost a lot of credibility in the debate about when it’s acceptable to reduce emissions controls,” said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, an automotive analyst at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Center for Automotive Research. “Diesel is over and it’s time to switch to new technologies.”

Upending industry

Diesel bans threaten to upend an industry already challenged by the costs of developing electric vehicles, with BMW CEO Harald Krueger saying the shift isn’t possible without fuel-efficient diesel engines as part of an interim step.

In particular, diesel technology plays a major role in Germany, where the models accounted for about 46 percent of sales last year. It also means thousands of jobs. At Robert Bosch, the world’s biggest car-parts supplier, about 50,000 positions are linked to diesel, with many more at Volkswagen Group and other automakers.

With that in mind and a federal election just over two months away, German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt has come out against bans, saying they are an ineffective tool for reducing pollution. Dobrindt has organized a gathering of government and industry executives on Aug. 2 to consider options for updating older diesels.

Signs of reprieve

There are some signs that the embattled technology — under fire since Volkswagen’s emissions cheating became public two years ago — may get a bit of a reprieve.

Stuttgart, which is looking at possible diesel bans beginning already next January, says it would prefer automakers upgrade so-called Euro 5 diesel cars that were still on sale as recently as two years ago. But such changes must come within the next two years to help bring down pollution, according to a state transport ministry spokesman.

“Driving bans can only be a means of last resort because they limit the mobility of people,” Hubertus Heil — general secretary of the Social Democrats, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partner — said on Monday in Berlin. “The solution must be to organize mobility in Germany in another way. So it is good that all parties involved sit down together and develop a concept for the future.”

On Tuesday, the state government of Bavaria — where BMW and Audi are based — said it agreed to a voluntary recall with carmakers in an effort to avoid diesel bans in its cities, of which Munich is the biggest. Baden-Wuerttemberg, which includes Daimler’s home city of Stuttgart, indicated it would be open to a similar solution.

Even as politicians get behind fixes, there’s the risk of court-ordered restrictions. On Wednesday, Stuttgart’s administrative court will hold a public hearing on a complaint seeking to ban all diesel cars from driving into the city.

Stuttgart is built in a valley and has for many years failed air pollution tests. In Munich, a court in March compelled the city to prepare diesel bans to bring down levels of cancer-causing nitrogen oxide of which diesel cars are a major source.

Last year, the Transport Ministry prodded manufacturers including VW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz to recall 630,000 cars that pushed the limits of emissions regulations. As many as 13 million cars could be affected by additional fixes being considered, with the industry arguing the figure is far lower. How that would work and who will pay for it will be discussed at the task force meeting on Aug. 2. BMW and Audi said last month more than 50 percent of their Euro-5 diesel cars could be upgraded.

“We see good prospects to find a federal solution to upgrade Euro-5 diesel cars,” said Michael Rebstock, a BMW spokesman. “BMW will bear the cost of such an upgrade.”

Source: Germany wrestles with diesel’s future as large cities plan bans

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Environment Canada alerts of increased air pollution due to ozone 

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Environment Canada has issued a statement alerting residents of possible increased air pollution for July 18.

The statement affects all of York Region and other parts of the GTA. Environment Canada says “hot and sunny conditions are expected to cause increasing ground-level ozone concentrations in the area”.

Ozone is a colourless and odourless gas and a major component of smog. Ground-level ozone results from photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight.

Air pollution’s effect on health is measured with the Air Quality Health Index. Short-term, high-risk AQHI values are expected in the afternoon.

As a result of increased air pollution, individuals may experience symptoms of coughing, throat irritation, headaches or shortness of breath. Children, seniors and those with cardiovascular or lung disease are especially at risk, Environment Canada says.

Visit airhealth.ca for more information on how to reduce your health risk, as well as your current and forecast AQHI values.

Source: Environment Canada alerts of increased air pollution due to ozone | YorkRegion.com

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Environmental pollution exposure during pregnancy increases asthma risk for three generations 

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Exposure to environmental pollutants during pregnancy may increase the risk of asthma for as many as three consecutive generations, according to new research.

Exposure to environmental pollutants during pregnancy may increase the risk of asthma for as many as three consecutive generations, according to new research. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology — Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.

Researchers studied three generations of mice born to mothers that were exposed to either diesel exhaust particles or urban air particle concentrate during pregnancy. The research team compared cells from the lungs of the first, second and third generations of offspring to three generations of control offspring that were not exposed to the pollutants. All generations descended from mothers exposed to diesel exhaust particles had an abnormal increase in a type of immune cell, a common marker for allergy. Offspring of pollutant-exposed ancestors also showed elevated levels of interleukin proteins that are involved in regulating the immune system, which are a marker of asthma risk. However, the increase was more prominent in the first and second generations, suggesting that inherited risk factors lessen in further removed generations.

Environmental pollutant exposure before birth caused epigenetic changes in the offspring’s DNA that affect how genetic code is used (DNA methylation). The researchers found that atypical DNA methylation led to transgenerational asthma risk due to abnormal changes in a type of immune cell called dendritic cells. Dendritic cells play a key role in the development of asthma in early life.

Seeing the changes in DNA methylation and gene expression that affect the health of future generations (epigenetic transgenerational inheritance) may help doctors start to recognize asthma as not only an inflammatory disease but “to a large extent, an epigenetic disease,” explained Alexey Fedulov, corresponding researcher on the study. “This approach may allow entirely new therapeutic strategies.”

Source: Environmental pollution exposure during pregnancy increases asthma risk for three generations — ScienceDaily

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Ozone pollution may cause cardiovascular diseases

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Respro® UK Ltd

Ozone can damage the respiratory system, reduce lung function and cause asthma attacks.

Exposure to ozone, a powerful greenhouse gas and a widespread air pollutant in many major cities, may cause cardiovascular disease such as heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke, according to a new study of Chinese adults. Ozone is a pollutant formed through a chemical reaction that occurs when sunlight interacts with nitrogen oxides and other organic compounds that are generated by coal-burning, vehicle exhaust and some natural sources. It has long been associated with adverse health effects in children and adults, Xinhua reported on Monday. “We know that ozone can damage the respiratory system, reduce lung function and cause asthma attacks,” said study author Junfeng Zhang, from Duke and Duke Kunshan University.“Here, we wanted to learn whether ozone affects other aspects of human health, specifically the cardiovascular system.” Zhang and colleagues studied 89 healthy adults living in Changsha City of China for one year. They monitored indoor and outdoor ozone levels, along with other pollutants.

At four intervals, the study team took participant blood and urine samples and used a breathing test called spirometry to examine a set of factors that could contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory disease. The team examined inflammation and oxidative stress, arterial stiffness, blood pressure, clotting factors and lung function in participants. They noted blood platelet activation, which is a risk factor for clotting, and an increase in blood pressure, suggesting a possible mechanism by which ozone may affect cardiovascular health. These effects were found with ozone exposure lower than that which affects respiratory health, and lower than current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality standards. “This study shows that standards for safe ozone exposure should take into account its effect on cardiovascular disease risk,” said Zhang. These findings, by a team from Duke University, Tsinghua University, Duke Kunshan University and Peking University, were published Monday in the US journal JAMA Internal Medicine. “This study provides mechanistic support to previously observed associations between low-level ozone exposure and cardiovascular disease outcomes,” the study concluded. (Read: Exposure to air pollution may increase your risk of heart disease)

Source: Ozone pollution may cause cardiovascular diseases | TheHealthSite.com

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