Toxic air ‘is linked to a new illness every year’ expert warns

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

AIR pollution will put health and social systems in the UK under increasing strain, an expert warns. Professor Frank Kelly said filthy air is linked to new illnesses every year, and not just associated with the lungs.

A government research group last month found pollution is likely to increase the risk of dementia. And even small amounts can increase the risk of death, a study released this week discovered.

Professor Kelly, from the school of public health at Imperial College London, said: “Over the last 10 to 15 years, research has shown that the effects go way beyond the lungs.

“Every year there’s something new linked to it. Some researchers suggest it’s linked to poorer skin conditions, others have linked it to obesity, and even childhood obesity.

“It affects metabolism and upsets some of the hormonal balance. This leads to changes which we just associated with overeating. But it’s more complicated than that.

“We used to think air pollution was bad for your lungs. We worried about asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”

Prof Kelly warned people to be aware of exposure within their homes. He said if people cook with gas or fry a lot of food, they produce significant levels of pollution indoors.

He added: “Increasingly, we’re aware you get exposed to a lot of pollution in your home, just through lifestyle. We’ve changed the way we clean our homes enormously.

“Our parents would probably have used vinegar and water for cleaning.

“Now we’ve got these complex cleaning agents, which have a whole range of pretty toxic chemicals in them – that’s why they’re so good at removing biological contaminants.

“But, on the other hand, residual chemicals end up in our home and we’re breathing them in.”

Toxic air ‘is linked to a new illness every year’ expert warns | UK | News | Express.co.uk
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Human Rights Watch: Air Pollution Killing Thousands in Bosnia

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Watchdog organisation says Bosnia’s dependency on coal and wood for heat and electricity generation kills thousands of people each year.

Human Rights Watch has again drawn attention to the problem of air pollution in Bosnian cities. “Nine per cent of the country’s deaths are due to air pollution and an estimated 3,300 people die prematurely every year as a result of exposure to ambient PM2.5 air pollution,” an HRW report published on Monday says. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina produces electricity by burning lignite, a low-quality type of coal found in abundance in the country, in outdated coal plants.

However, Bosnia’s complex governance system creates extra difficulties in tackling air pollution as there is no national environment body and almost no coordination between different levels of government. 

“Despite the health and climate impacts, the government has remained steadfastly committed to use of coal, particularly for electricity,” HRW notes. 

It says the state government also does not take adequate steps to inform citizens about the health risks of air pollution, or how to mitigate those risks. 

“Air pollution affects everyone but there is a disproportionate impact on older people, children, and those with preexisting respiratory or cardiovascular problems,” the watchdog organisation continues. 

It estimates that air pollution reduces the country’s GDP by as much as 21.5 per cent through lost work and school days, and healthcare and fuel costs.  

Beside burning wood and coal for heating and electricity, “low fuel quality standards, aging industrial plants, lack of effective public transportation and older diesel vehicles” also contribute to air pollution, HRW adds. 

Because air pollutants easily travel across borders, the impact of the country’s polluted air extends into the EU. A 2019 study using 2016 data recorded 3,000 premature deaths in the EU from air pollution in the Western Balkans, and it is estimated to cost the EU between 3.1 and 5.8 billion euros each year.

The WHO, HRW says, has identified air pollution as the “single biggest environmental threat to human health,” with estimates of over seven million people dying prematurely from it annually, including 4.2 million from outdoor (or ambient) air pollution.

Human Rights Watch: Air Pollution Killing Thousands in Bosnia | Balkan Insight
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July heatwave triggers air pollution in UK

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Ozone levels increased significantly and exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations, the researchers found after drawing on a national network of air pollution monitoring sites

Extreme temperatures experienced by the United Kingdom have altered the levels of harmful pollutants in the atmosphere, according to researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS).

July heatwave has added dangerously high levels of ozone and Particulate matter to the atmosphere. The UK experienced temperatures above 40°C in mid-July for the first time in its recorded history.

The country’s Met Office had issued a ‘red warning’ for central, northern, eastern and southeastern England from July 18 to July 19, 2022.

Researchers at NCAS analysed air pollution data between July 18 and July 19.

The ozone levels increased significantly and exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations, the researchers found after drawing on a national network of air pollution monitoring sites.

The highest levels of ozone were recorded July 19 at observation posts in Sibton, St Osyth and Weybourne.

Unlike many other pollutants, ozone is not frequently released directly by human activity. Instead, it is created as a result of atmospheric reactions. Heatwaves are known to trigger ozone pollution.

Sunlight combines with pollutants already present in the air, such as oxides of nitrogen from car exhausts and volatile organic compounds, to form ground-layer ozone.

During hot spells, slow air movement and rapid evaporation can accumulate pollutants and boost the rate of emissions of volatile organic compounds.Higher ozone concentrations were observed in rural areas compared to urban areas.

“Although both nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds are more common in urban areas, they take a long time to react to form ozone. By the time the reaction takes place, the air has already moven to a different area,” explained Professor Lee from NCAS.

Ground level ozone can worsen asthma attacks and increase our vulnerability to respiratory infections.

“Due to the effects of climate change, we can expect heatwaves more often in the future, leading to a higher frequency of dangerous ozone pollution events across the UK,” said Grant Forster from Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, the UK.

The scientists also discovered that the bulk of small particulate matter was formed from organic material, which may be more harmful than non-organic ones.

“The small pollution particles we saw were almost all organic material and black carbon, which is surprising,” said James Allan from NCAS.

Allan suspects wildfires and heatwaves to be the reason behind this.

“It’s possible that continental wildfires were contributing burnt materials; the sun’s heat is also likely to have been triggering chemical reactions in the atmosphere, leading to new organic particle formation,” he added.

Weather and air quality are tightly correlated. Hot spells frequently coincide with poor air quality as the heat intensifies the reactivity of airborne chemicals, the researchers concluded.

July heatwave triggers air pollution in UK
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Air pollution is associated with heart attacks in non-smokers

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Environmental and Occupational Aspects of Heart DiseaseRisk Factors and PreventionBarcelona, Spain – 23 Aug 2022: Research presented at ESC Congress 2022 supports a causal relationship between air pollution and heart attacks since smokers, who already inhale smoke, were unaffected by dirty air.

Study author Dr. Insa de Buhr-Stockburger of Berlin Brandenburg Myocardial Infarction Registry (B2HIR), Germany said: “The correlation between air pollution and heart attacks in our study was absent in smokers. This may indicate that bad air can actually cause heart attacks since smokers, who are continuously self-intoxicating with air pollutants, seem less affected by additional external pollutants.”

This study investigated the associations of nitric oxide, particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 µm (PM10), and weather with the incidence of myocardial infarction in Berlin. Nitric oxide originates from combustion at high temperatures, in particular from diesel vehicles. Combustion is also a source of PM10, along with abrasion from brakes and tyres, and dust.

The study included 17,873 patients with a myocardial infarction between 2008 and 2014 enrolled in the B2HIR.2 Daily numbers of acute myocardial infarction were extracted from the B2HIR database along with baseline patient characteristics including sex, age, smoking status, and diabetes. Daily PM10 and nitric oxide concentrations throughout the city were obtained from the Senate of Berlin. Information on sunshine duration, minimum and maximum temperature, and precipitation were retrieved from the Berlin Tempelhof weather station and merged with the data on myocardial infarction incidence and air pollution.

The researchers analysed the associations between the incidence of acute myocardial and average pollutant concentrations on the same day, previous day, and an average of the three preceding days among all patients and according to baseline characteristics. Associations between the incidence of acute myocardial and weather parameters were also analysed.

Regarding pollution, myocardial infarction was significantly more common on days with high nitric oxide concentrations, with a 1% higher incidence for every 10 µg/m3 increase. Myocardial infarction was also more common when there was a high average PM10 concentration over the three preceding days, with a 4% higher incidence for every 10 µg/m3 increase. The incidence of myocardial infarction in smokers was unaffected by nitric oxide and PM10 concentrations.

Regarding weather, the incidence of myocardial infarction was significantly related to the maximum temperature, with a 6% lower incidence for every 10°C rise in temperature. No associations with sunshine duration or precipitation were detected.

Dr. de Buhr-Stockburger said: ”The study indicates that dirty air is a risk factor for acute myocardial infarction and more efforts are needed to lower pollution from traffic and combustion. Causation cannot be established by an observational study. It is plausible that air pollution is a contributing cause of myocardial infarction, given that nitric oxide and PM10 promote inflammation, atherosclerosis is partly caused by inflammatory processes, and no associations were found in smokers.” 

Air pollution is associated with heart attacks in non-smokers
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Second-hand smoke 10th biggest risk factor for cancer: Lancet study

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Second-hand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, like cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, or pipes.

People living in close proximity to those who smoke tobacco may have a higher risk of cancer as a new study published in The Lancet journal has found that second-hand smoking is the tenth biggest risk factor for the disease.

Using results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) 2019 study, the researchers investigated how 34 behavioural, metabolic, environmental, and occupational risk factors contributed to deaths and ill health due to 23 cancer types in 2019.

Changes in cancer burden between 2010 and 2019 due to risk factors were also assessed. Estimates of cancer burden were based on mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), a measure of years of life lost to death and years lived with disability.

The researchers at the University of Washington, US assumed that all persons living with a daily smoker are exposed to tobacco smoke. They used surveys to estimate the proportion of individuals exposed to secondhand smoke at work.

The study found that smoking, alcohol use, and high body mass index (BMI), were the top three risk factors for cancer. These were followed by unsafe sex, high fasting blood glucose, particle air pollution, asbestos exposure, diets low in whole grains and milk, and second-hand smoking.

These factors accounted for 3.7 million deaths and 87.8 million DALYs in 2019, the researchers said.

“This study illustrates that the burden of cancer remains an important public health challenge that is growing in magnitude around the world,” said Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

“Smoking continues to be the leading risk factor for cancer globally, with other substantial contributors to cancer burden varying,” said Murray, a co-senior author of the study.

Second-hand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, like cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, or pipes. Secondhand smoke also is smoke that has been exhaled, or breathed out, by the person smoking.

People may also be exposed to secondhand smoke in public places like bars, restaurants, and casinos, as well as in vehicles.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, including hundreds of chemicals that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.

Secondhand smoke can cause health problems in children and adults, and can even be deadly. Since 1964, about 2,500,000 people who do not smoke have died from health problems caused by secondhand smoke exposure, the CDC states.

Second-hand smoke 10th biggest risk factor for cancer: Lancet study
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Nepal has ‘world’s highest’ lung disease death rate

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Nepal has the world’s highest age-adjusted death rate for chronic lung disease at 182.5 per 100,000 population, with more than 3,000 years lost to ill health or disability from the condition, according to an international study.

Nearly all cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are environmental in origin, says Jay Kaufman, an author of the study and professor at the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of diseases that lead to blockage in airflow and problems relating to breathing. It includes conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

In the context of poorer Asian countries, the main causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are smoking, indoor air pollution from cooking and heating, and outdoor air pollution, Kaufman tells SciDev.Net.  “The very high COPD death rates in these countries also speak to the limited access to medical interventions that might improve survival of those with COPD,” he says.

According to the study, in 2019, the national age-standardised death and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rate of COPD ranged from 178 to 3,318 patients per 100, 000. DALY is a time-based measure that combines years of life lost due to premature mortality and years of healthy life lost due to disability.

The highest rates were seen in Nepal (3,318), Papua New Guinea (2,903), and the Solomon Islands (2,179) whereas the lowest rates were in Barbados (178), Antigua and Barbuda (178) and Peru (190).

The authors found that Nepal had the highest death rate from COPD caused by air pollution with 26 per cent of COPD deaths caused by exposure to this risk factor. With Nepal’s rapid urbanisation, the use of motorised vehicles increased from nearly 224,000 in 1990 to 1.3 million in 2012. The country has failed to effectively regulate air pollutants and implement air quality control measures, the authors said.

Published in The BMJ, the study looked at data related to COPD from 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2019.

“In 2019, 212.3 million prevalent cases of COPD were reported globally, with COPD accounting for 3.3 million deaths,” the study said.

“The burden of COPD reaches its peak in older adults.”

The overall incidence of COPD is likely to be just the tip of an iceberg as most patients seek medical help only when they have substantial symptoms, says Sushmita Roychowdhury, director of pulmonology at the Fortis Hospital in Kolkata, India.

To tackle COPD in developing countries such as Nepal, Roychowdhury recommends annual mandatory spirometry test [a common test used to assess how well the lungs are working] for all above the age of 40. “It will not only unearth many more cases but help diagnose and treat early.”

“Given the expense and complexity of medical interventions, the best hope for [poorer Asian] countries lies in primary prevention, which means reducing tobacco use and replacing dangerous indoor combustion sources with safer, less polluting modern stoves,” says Kaufman.

“Although Nepal generates much of its electricity from clean hydroelectric sources, it suffers from high levels of air pollution from the burning of garbage and biomass and from road traffic. This contributes to the high burden of COPD and must be reduced.”

Nepal has ‘world’s highest’ lung disease death rate – Asia & Pacific
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Major cities blighted by nitrogen dioxide pollution, research finds

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Shanghai, Moscow and Tehran have the highest levels of NO2 pollution, according to the research

Cities in relatively prosperous countries are blighted by serious levels of air pollution from nitrogen dioxide, often without realising the extent of the problem, research has found.

Moscow is the world’s second worst city for nitrogen dioxide pollution, behind Shanghai in China, while St Petersburg takes fourth place. Other cities near Russia follow close behind, including Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, and Minsk, capital of Belarus, at seventh and eighth place respectively, according to the research, published on Wednesday.

Pallavi Pant, senior scientist at the Health Effects Institute in the US, who oversaw the research, said: “Finding several Russian cities at the top of the list [for NO2 air pollution] was definitely surprising for us. It is likely to mainly come from traffic pollution and a vehicle fleet that is older.”

Other cities worst affected by NO2 pollution included Tehran in Iran, Cairo in Egypt, Istanbul in Turkey and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

While the problem of particulate pollution – caused by very fine pieces of soot or debris, mostly from burning and some industrial sources – has been an increasing cause of concern around the world, the problem of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution has been less well studied, with limited on-the-ground monitoring stations capable of detecting the gas.

Scientists from the Health Effects Institute in the US used satellite data, along with on-the-ground read-outs, to compile a global picture of fine particulate (PM2.5) and NO2 air pollution in more than 7,000 cities globally, for the State of the Global Air report.

They found that while poorer countries tended to be plagued by pollution from particulates – very fine pieces of unburnt carbon or debris, mostly from burning or industrial sources – the problem of NO2 pollution was less well studied.

The worst cities for particulate pollution – which can come from coal-fired power stations, the burning of waste and agricultural burning, as well as from vehicles – were Delhi and Kolkata in India, followed by Kano in Nigeria and Lima in Peru. South Asia and Africa dominated the Top 10, with Dhaka, Karachi and Jakarta, Lago and Accra also on the list, while Beijing was ninth worst globally.

Robert O’Keefe, the vice-president of the Health Effects Institute, said: “China has continued to make progress this decade on air pollution. It shows that there is hope, things can go in the right direction, though this is a long-term trip.”

According to the report, 18 of the top cities showing the steepest declines in NO2 exposure over the past decade were in China.

NO2 is not as closely linked to mortality as particulate pollution, but can cause a variety of respiratory problems, including the onset of asthma in children, and exacerbate breathing difficulties for those already susceptible. Deaths have been linked to the pollution, though on a lesser scale than pollution caused by particulates.

Vehicles are the main source of nitrogen dioxide pollution, and older vehicles produce far more than more modern models.

The State of the Global Air report is published annually by HEI.

It has previously found that air pollution, both outdoor and indoor, was so widespread that nearly all people experienced it in some form, and that babies were dying across the world from it. This year’s edition focused on NO2 for the first time as scientists were concerned about the lack of knowledge of the issue.

While about 117 countries have ground-level monitoring systems to track PM2.5, only 74 monitor NO2.

This year’s study focused on NO2 levels from 2010-2019, to give a picture of the underlying problem of air pollution, avoiding the effect of the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The authors also estimate that in 2019, at least 1.7 million deaths linked to PM2.5 exposure occurred in the 7,239 cities they covered. The impact was worst in Asia, Africa and eastern and central Europe.

Major cities blighted by nitrogen dioxide pollution, research finds | Air pollution | The Guardian

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Researchers examine the effect of cumulative exposure to air pollutants with lung cancer diagnosis

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Researchers from Vancouver, British Columbia examine the effect of duration of past exposure to air pollution with lung cancer diagnosis.

In 2013, the International Agency of Research on Cancer classified outdoor air pollution and particulate matter of 2.5 micrograms/meter3 (PM 2.5) in outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans, but the effects of air pollution exposure may take 15 to 20 years to be reflected in the lung adenocarcinoma incidence rate. To assess the connection between pollution and lung cancer diagnosis, Renelle Myers, BC Cancer, in Vancouver, B.C. compared the cumulative three-year versus 20-year exposure in females with newly diagnosed lung cancer who have never smoked.

Dr. Myers and her colleagues invited Vancouver-area women with lung cancer who had never smoked to participate in the study. The researchers collected detailed information on the patients’ age, sex, race, country of birth, age of arrival in Canada (for foreign born Canadians), their occupation, family history of lung cancer, and secondhand smoke exposure. A detailed residential history from birth to cancer diagnosis for residences within Canada, and prior residences outside of Canada (for foreign born immigrants) were recorded. This geographical data included street and city address with postal codes, which allowed accurate linking of residential locations to satellite-derived PM 2.5 exposure data that were available from 1996 onwards. Cumulative exposure to PM 2.5 was quantified with a high-spatial resolution global exposure model. The magnitude of three-years versus 20-years exposure were compared.

Myers acknowledged that even a 20-year cumulative exposure does not capture childhood exposure and is an underestimate of lifetime exposure and depends on countries of residence.

Of the 236 female patients with lung cancer who had never smoked, 190 (83.3%) were foreign born; 71% were Asians. The mean years lived in a foreign country was 37.3 years. The mean age of lung cancer diagnosis was 66 years; 92.8% of them had adenocarcinoma and 55.9% were Stage III/IV lung cancer. For foreign-born Canadian females, only4/190 (2%) had 3-year cumulative PM2.5 exposure of >10 ug/m3 whereas 38/190 (20%) had a 20-year cumulative PM2.5 of >10 ug/m3 (p≥0.0001). All had a PM2.5 exposure greater than 5 ug/m3. Shorter term (3-years) assessment significantly under-estimate the cumulative exposure to PM2.5 prior to lung cancer diagnosis especially among foreign-born Canadians.

“Our study demonstrates the important of incorporating long-term cumulative exposure to ambient air pollutants in the assessment of individual lung cancer risk in combination with traditional risk factors. Research is needed regarding the best method to incorporate the effects of air pollution exposure prior to 1996 when accurate satellite data became available. Our finding has important clinical implication in assessing lung cancer risk with global migration.”

Dr. Renelle Myers, BC Cancer, Vancouver

Source:International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer

Researchers examine the effect of cumulative exposure to air pollutants with lung cancer diagnosis
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