Premature deaths as a result of air pollution are costing the global economy trillions of dollars every year.
A new study from the World Bank found air pollution to be the “deadliest” form of pollution and the fourth leading risk factor for premature deaths worldwide.
It put a “welfare cost” – an approach used to evaluate the costs and benefits of environmental regulations in a given country context – from both indoor and outdoor air pollution and found it to be more than $5 trillion (£3.8tn) in 2013.
That’s the size of the GDP of India, Canada and Mexico combined.
China lost nearly 10% of its GDP, India 7.69% and Sri Lanka and Cambodia roughly 8% in 2013 – the latest year for which global data is available.
Rich countries are also losing billions of dollars, with dirty air found to cost the UK $7.6 billion (£5.7bn) annually, the US $45 billion (£33.7bn) and Germany $18 billion (£13.5bn).
Without including the costs of treating illnesses linked to pollution, the bank calculated premature deaths alone cost the global economy around $225 billion (£169bn) in lost work days.
It also found air pollution now kills 5.5 million – or one in 10 – people a year prematurely worldwide.
In 2013, around 87% of the world’s population lived in areas that exceeded the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines.
Laura Tuck, Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank said: “Air pollution is a challenge that threatens basic human welfare, damages natural and physical capital and constrains economic growth.
“We hope this study will translate the cost of premature deaths into an economic language that resonates with policymakers so that more resources will be devoted to improving air quality. By supporting healthier cities and investments in cleaner sources of energy, we can reduce dangerous emissions, slow climate change and most importantly save lives.”
New research says more than 80 million residents of Western states will be subject to increased health risks from wildfire pollution in future decades. (Pixabay)
DENVER – As Western states continue to struggle with an increasing number of large-scale wildfires and longer fire seasons, a new joint Yale-Harvard study predicts 82 million people will be exposed to higher levels of air pollution in coming decades.
Report co-author Jia Coco Liu, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said a changing climate is bringing hotter and drier conditions to the West, a perfect combination for wildfires – and increased health risks from the smoke.
“So, in the future, we estimated that there will be more air pollution episodes from wildfires,” she said, “so there will be more fine particulates from wildfires that can potentially impact your health.”
Liu said fine particulate matter in wildfire smoke is about 1/20th the diameter of human hair and can lead to respiratory and heart disease when absorbed by lung tissue. Researchers studied data from wildfire pollution in more than 500 Western counties from 2004 to 2009, and made projections for a future six-year period ending in 2051.
The study forecasts that 20 currently smoke-free counties will experience at least one major wildfire event by 2050, and Liu said Western counties already exposed to pollution are likely to see the length of “smoke waves” or consecutive days of pollution increase, by an average of 15 days.
“So, anyone really in the western U.S. could potentially be affected,” she said, “so you have to be aware of the potential impact of wildfire smoke to protect your health and your family.”
Liu said she hopes the results will help public-health officials prepare for higher air-pollution levels and give fire managers additional information as they face future blazes.
London’s infamous smoggy roads have been tackled by policy makers hoping to decrease air pollution in the city. Now, 10 years of data show that they’re on the right track.
Scientists at King’s College London analyzed a wealth of data to determine exactly how air pollution has been changing in London. Their report was published in the journal Environmental Pollution.
The study looked at levels of various pollutants from years 2005 to 2014 along 65 roads. Data shows that even though overall air pollution was down, there was a lot of variability among different roads.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) showed a double-digit percentage increases from 2005 to 2009 before it began to decrease at about 5 percent per year for the remaining years studied. The decrease was attributed to retrofitting new exhaust technology on older buses, Science Daily reports.
Fine particulate matter, the much maligned PM2.5, saw the most dramatic decrease after 2010 at an average of 28 percent per year. Black carbon also saw double-digit decreases during those years.
Preliminary pollutant particle’s response to the policies is promising. However, NO2 levels are still above the recommended amount and there was no measurable change in levels of PM10.
“It is great that evidence shows that policies are starting to have an impact, but we need to expand on these to reduce the health burden from breathing polluted air,” said Gary Fulller, a senior lecturer in Air Quality Measurement at King’s College London. “Achieving the EU Limit Value for nitrogen dioxide by 2030 is likely to remain a challenge for many major roads in London.”
Fuller added that to ensure that the amount of vehicles on London’s road do not affect the decrease in pollution, tighter management of HGVs is needed. He also noted the importance of tackling the effect of particulate matter, from non-exhaust traffic emissions.
The study notes that new policies can be put in place to continue the positive trends observed in this study and address current areas that need improvement.
Detection of ‘abundant’ magnetite particles raises concerns because of suggested links to Alzheimer’s disease
Toxic nanoparticles from air pollution have been discovered in human brains in “abundant” quantities, a newly published study reveals.
The detection of the particles, in brain tissue from 37 people, raises concerns because recent research has suggested links between these magnetite particles and Alzheimer’s disease, while air pollution has been shown to significantly increase the risk of the disease. However, the new work is still a long way from proving that the air pollution particles cause or exacerbate Alzheimer’s.
“This is a discovery finding, and now what should start is a whole new examination of this as a potentially very important environmental risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Prof Barbara Maher, at Lancaster University, who led the new research. “Now there is a reason to go on and do the epidemiology and the toxicity testing, because these particles are so prolific and people are exposed to them.”
Air pollution is a global health crisis that kills more people than malaria and HIV/Aids combined and it has long been linked to lung and heart disease and strokes. But research is uncovering new impacts on health, including degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, mental illness and reduced intelligence.
The new work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined brain tissue from 37 people in Manchester, in the UK, and Mexico, aged between three and 92.
It found abundant particles of magnetite, an iron oxide. “You are talking about millions of magnetite particles per gram of freeze-dried brain tissue – it is extraordinary,” said Maher.
“Magnetite in the brain is not something you want to have because it is particularly toxic there,” she said, explaining that the substance can create reactive oxygen species called free radicals. “Oxidative cell damage is one of the hallmark features of Alzheimer’s disease, and this is why the presence of magnetite is so potentially significant, because it is so bioreactive.”
Abnormal accumulation of brain metals is a key feature of Alzheimer’s disease and a recent study showed that magnetite was directly associated with the damage seen in Alzheimer’s brains. Magnetite particles are known to form biologically in human brains, but these are small and crystal-shaped, unlike the larger, spherical particles that dominated the samples in the new study.
“Many of the magnetite particles we have found in the brain are very distinctive,” said Maher. “They are very rounded nanospheres, because they were formed as molten droplets of material from combustion sources, such as car exhausts, industrial processes and power stations, anywhere you are burning fuel.”
“They are abundant,” she said. “For every one of [the crystal shaped particles] we saw about 100 of the pollution particles. The thing about magnetite is it is everywhere.” An analysis of roadside air in Lancaster found 200m magnetite particles per cubic metre.
Furthermore, said Maher: “We also observed other metal-bearing particles in the brain, such as platinum, cobalt and nickel. Things like platinum are very unlikely to come from a source within the brain. It is a bit of an indicator of a [vehicle] catalytic converter source.”
Other scientists told the Guardian the new work provided strong evidence that most of the magnetite in the brain samples come from air pollution but that the link to Alzheimer’s disease remained speculative.
“This is a very intriguing finding and it raises a lot of important questions,” saidProf Jon Dobson, at the University of Florida and not part of the research team. But he said further investigation was needed: “One thing that puzzles me is that the [particle] concentrations are somewhat higher than those previously reported for the human brain. Further studies [are needed] to determine whether this due to regional variations within the brain, the fact that these samples are from subjects who lived in industrial areas, or whether it is possibly due to [lab] contamination.” The researchers said they had gone to great lengths to avoid contamination.
Air pollution was linked to a significant increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by a major study published in 2015, while other research showed brain damage related to Alzheimer’s disease in children and young adults exposed to air pollution. Air pollution has also been linked to dementia in older men and women.
“We have not demonstrated a causal link between these particles and Alzheimer’s disease but when you consider that magnetite has been found in higher concentrations in Alzheimer’s brains and you know that magnetite is pernicious in its effect on the brain, then having a direct [air pollution] source of magnetite right up your olfactory bulb and into your frontal cortex is not a great idea,” said Maher.
Prof David Allsop, an Alzheimer’s disease expert at Lancaster University and part of the research team, said: “There is no blood-brain barrier with nasal delivery. Once nanoparticles directly enter olfactory areas of the brain through the nose, they can spread to other areas of the brain, including hippocampus and cerebral cortex – regions affected in Alzheimer’s disease.” He said it was worth noting that an impaired sense of smell is an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Knowledge is power,” Maher said. “So if there’s at least a possibility that exposure to traffic pollution is having even worse health impacts than were previously known, then take the steps you can to reduce your dose as far as you can.”
“What this is pointing towards perhaps is there needs to be a major shift in policy and an attempt to reduce the particulate matter burden on human health.” Maher said. “The more you realise the impact this is having, the more urgent and important it is to reduce the concentrations in the atmosphere.”
Dr Clare Walton, research communications manager at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study offers convincing evidence that magnetite from air pollution can get into the brain, but it doesn’t tell us what effect this has on brain health or conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Further work in this area is important, but until we have more information people should not be unduly worried. There are more practical ways to lower your chances of developing dementia such as regular exercise, eating a healthy diet and avoiding smoking.”
Bolivia’s National Pedestrian Day was hailed as a huge success by environmentalists.
Bolivians breathed a huge sigh of relief Sunday as the streets in major cities were cleared of all motorized vehicles. The air they were breathing was significantly cleaner thanks to the annual car ban.
Air pollution in La Paz fell by 72 percent on National Pedestrian Day, according to the office of Environmental Services. ‘’Noise pollution dropped to just 22 decibels which is significant considering the average is around 65 decibels,’’ said Nadiezna Godoy, administrator of Environmental Services in La Paz.
More than two million cars were taken off the streets in nine major Bolivian cities, with tens of thousands of people reclaiming the normally congested roads by taking part in more than 200 different activities ranging from gymnastics to tai-chi as well as dance competitions.
‘’It’s a great idea’’ Diego Hurtado told teleSUR. ‘’You can breathe much better and they should have it more often, every six months would be ideal.’’
Bolivia’s socialist government introduced car-free days in 2011 to get people thinking about the effects of air and noise pollution. Marking the event, President Evo Morales said it is the collective responsibility of everyone to care for Mother Earth.
“We call on everyone to continue to take care of our common home, so that future generations do not suffer the consequences,” wrote Morales on his official Twitter account.
According to President Morales, “The National Pedestrian Day is a day for Mother Earth,” asking Bolivians to “liberate it from pollution.”
A report released by the World Health Organization in May confirmed that outdoor air pollution has grown 8 percent globally in the past five years.
According to a WHO database compiled from more than 3,000 cities, billions of people are exposed to dangerous air particles. The study said outdoor air pollution is responsible for more than three million deaths every year and is thought to be the biggest single killer in the world.
Tiny particles of pollution have been discovered inside samples of brain tissue, according to new research.
Suspected of toxicity, the particles of iron oxide could conceivably contribute to diseases like Alzheimer’s – though evidence for this is lacking.
The finding – described as “dreadfully shocking” by the researchers – raises a host of new questions about the health risks of air pollution.
Many studies have focused on the impact of dirty air on the lungs and heart.
Now this new research provides the first evidence that minute particles of what is called magnetite, which can be derived from pollution, can find their way into the brain.
Earlier this year the World Health Organisation warned that air pollution was leading to as many as three million premature deaths every year.
Tracing origins
The estimate for the UK is that 50,000 people die every year with conditions linked to polluted air.
The research was led by scientists at Lancaster University and is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The team analysed samples of brain tissue from 37 people – 29 who had lived and died in Mexico City, a notorious pollution hotspot, and who were aged from 3 to 85.
The other 8 came from Manchester, were aged 62-92 and some had died with varying severities of neurodegenerative disease.
The lead author of the research paper, Prof Barbara Maher, has previously identified magnetite particles in samples of air gathered beside a busy road in Lancaster and outside a power station.
She suspected that similar particles may be found in the brain samples, and that is what happened.
“It’s dreadfully shocking. When you study the tissue you see the particles distributed between the cells and when you do a magnetic extraction there are millions of particles, millions in a single gram of brain tissue – that’s a million opportunities to do damage.”
Further study revealed that the particles have a distinctive shape which provides a crucial clue to their origin.
Magnetite can occur naturally in the brain in tiny quantities but the particles formed that way are distinctively jagged.
By contrast, the particles found in the study were not only far more numerous but also smooth and rounded – characteristics that can only be created in the high temperatures of a vehicle engine or braking systems.
Prof Maher said: “They are spherical shapes and they have little crystallites around their surfaces, and they occur with other metals like platinum which comes from catalytic converters.
“So for the first time we saw these pollution particles inside the human brain.
“It’s a discovery finding. It’s a whole new area to investigate to understand if these magnetite particles are causing or accelerating neurodegenerative disease.”
For every one natural magnetite particle identified, the researchers found about 100 of the pollution-derived ones.
The results did not show a straightforward pattern. While the Manchester donors, especially those with neurodegenerative conditions, had elevated levels of magnetite, the same or higher levels were found in the Mexico City victims.
The highest level was found in a 32-year-old Mexican man who had been killed in a traffic accident.
Disease risk?
Dubbed “nanospheres”, the particles are less than 200 nanometres in diameter – by comparison, a human hair is at least 50,000 nanometres thick.
While large particles of pollution such as soot can be trapped inside the nose, smaller types can enter the lungs and even smaller ones can cross into the bloodstream.
But nanoscale particles of magnetite are believed to be small enough to pass from the nose into the olfactory bulb and then via the nervous system into the frontal cortex of the brain.
Prof David Allsop, a specialist in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, is a co-author of the study and also at Lancaster University.
He said that pollution particles “could be an important risk factor” for these conditions.
“There is no absolutely proven link at the moment but there are lots of suggestive observations – other people have found these pollution particles in the middle of the plaques that accumulate in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease so they could well be a contributor to plaque formation.
“These particles are made out of iron and iron is very reactive so it’s almost certainly going to do some damage to the brain. It’s involved in producing very reactive molecules called reaction oxygen species which produce oxidative damage and that’s very well defined.
“We already know oxidative damage contributes to brain damage in Alzheimer’s patients so if you’ve got iron in the brain it’s very likely to do some damage. It can’t be benign.”
Other experts in the field are more cautious about a possible link.
Dr Clare Walton, research manager at the Alzheimer’s Society, said there was no strong evidence that magnetite causes Alzheimer’s disease or makes it worse.
“This study offers convincing evidence that magnetite from air pollution can get into the brain, but it doesn’t tell us what effect this has on brain health or conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.
“The causes of dementia are complex and so far there hasn’t been enough research to say whether living in cities and polluted areas raises the risk of dementia. Further work in this area is important, but until we have more information people should not be unduly worried.”
She said that in the meantime more practical ways of lowering the chances of developing dementia include regular exercise, eating a healthy diet and avoiding smoking.
Thank God for Central Park, because everywhere else in the city is pretty damn polluted. According to a new study from MIT Senseable City Lab, most New Yorkers are breathing toxic air.
If you thought the air in your office was bad, you won’t believe how bad it is in your neighborhood. The MIT team used cellphone data to determine the air-quality conditions and exposure hazards of different areas of the city. They found that those who live and work in Manhattan are exposed to more toxic pollution than residents who commute into the city from the outer boroughs, according to Metro.
“Exposure indices are vastly different during the day and night in New York City. This is due to the people moving in and out of the urban center for work and other activities,” the study reports.
The study found that the highest concentrations of dangerous PM2.5 particles in NYC are in Manhattan and areas directly across the East River in Brooklyn and Queens It also found that most of the Bronx has high levels of PM2.5.
“PM2.5 is a fine particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5 micrometers. These tiny dust particles, when inhaled, lead to numerous health conditions including early death, and heart and lung related illnesses,” they study said.
Quitting the EU could make our air pollution problem even worse, it’s been claimed
Attempts to clean up Birmingham’s filthy air are failing.
And the problem could get even worse once the UK leaves the European Union.
That’s the claim from a House of Commons inquiry, which called on the Government to launch a major campaign to encourage people to drive electric cars.
In a new report, the inquiry named 38 out of 43 areas across the UK that are in break of legal air pollution limits, including the West Midlands.
The European Union set limits for the level of air pollution which were supposed to be met by 2010.
But the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has admitted that the target was missed in the West Midlands. Instead, it said in a recent report: “We expect this zone to be compliant by 2020.”
And a study by Public Health England warned that in air pollution was responsible for an estimated 520 deaths a year in Birmingham alone.
Now, a new report by MPs has warned that the problem is not being dealt with quickly enough.
In particular, they say that the Government is failing in its attempts to encourage people to start using low-pollution vehicles such as electric cars.
And they say they are worried about the effect of leaving the EU, because at the moment it’s the European Union that imposes air pollution targets.
MP Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, said: “We need 9% of all new cars to be ultra-low emission vehicles by 2020 if we’re going to meet our climate change targets at the lowest cost to the public.
“But the Department’s forecasts show it will get only around half way to this target.”
She added: “The Department should also aim for almost two thirds of new cars and vans to be ultra-low emission vehicles by 2030. With no strategy, we have no confidence that The Department for Transport will meet this target.”
And she warned: “With the vote to leave the EU, there’s a material risk to our air quality targets. At the very least, the Government should commit to keeping existing European air quality standards.”
MPs said regions where air pollution breaches legal air quality limits include Coventry and Bedworth; The Potteries; the West Midlands urban area, including Birmingham and the Black Country, and the wider West Midlands region.
Public Health England has previously revealed that almost 1,500 people in the West Midlands are dying from pollution each year.
This includes 520 excess deaths in Birmingham, 168 in Coventry, 173 in Dudley, 198 in Sandwell, 107 in Solihull, 155 in Walsall and 139 in Wolverhampton.
The pollution figures refer to levels of nitrogen dioxide in the air. This is a gas released when fuels are burned, including petrol or diesel in a car engine, and it can affect the way lungs work over long periods of time.
The European Union’s Air Quality Directive states that on average over the course of a year there should be no more than 40 micrograms – a millionth of a gram – of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre of air. The EU target states that there should never be more than 200 micrograms of the gas per cubic metre of air even in the worst conditions.
A government spokesman said: “The Government is firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions. That’s why we have committed more than £2 billion to greener transport schemes since 2011 and set out a national plan to tackle pollution in our towns and cities.
“We have some of the safest roads in the world and are committed to making sure that record continues.”
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