Air pollution is endangering children’s health in Mongolia 

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, children like Nandin-Erdene face air so dense with pollution that they cannot view the colour of traffic lights. See what the air quality means for children’s health, and learn what UNICEF and partners are doing to cut through the smog.

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, 22 February 2016 – “When I go to school, it is very smoggy and I can’t see anything. When I cross the road in the morning on my way to school, I can’t tell if the light is red or green,” says Nandin-Erdene, her cheeks red from the cold.

The 9-year-old girl lives with her parents and siblings in a ger district, an area that does not benefit from urban planning or most basic services, in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. Like 200,000 other households in the peri-urban areas, Nandin-Erdene’s family burn raw coal for heating and cooking during the winter – during which time temperatures can plummet to –40 °C.

Coal combustion and a high smoking rate have brought considerable indoor and outdoor air pollution, the dense curtain through which Nandin-Erdene tries to cross the street.

The air Nandin-Erdene breathes

Schoolchildren like Nandin-Erdene breathe in heavily polluted air not only in the streets, but also at both school and home.

Ulaanbaatar is among the 10 most polluted cities in the world. Air pollution levels in the ger have reached dangerous levels: 2011 data showed that fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, which increases the risk of respiratory infections among children, is usually 6–7 times higher than World Health Organization standards allow. The measurement can peak at up to 25 times the allowance, in December.

“My children get flu and sore throat very often during winter. I think that it’s because of the air pollution,” says Nandin-Erdene’s mother Khongorzul.

“Because of the smog, my throat burns and it gets sore,” agrees Nandin-Erdene. “I get sick often.

“I heard that smog is very bad for health. It makes lungs and other organs sick.”

“I am worried more about the long-term effects,” says Khongorzul. “I don’t know what will happen to them in the future.”

Nandin-Erdene and her mother are right to worry. The health risks to children like her are significant.

Children and air pollution

Globally, indoor air pollution contributes to the death of 4.3 million people each year, of whom 13 per cent are children under 5. Of this age group, more than 50 per cent of deaths are attributed to pneumonia caused by particulate matter.

In Mongolia, the three diseases that have resulted in the most lost life-years in Mongolia are related to air pollution. Among children under 5, acute lower respiratory infection, and in particular pneumonia, is one of the leading causes of death. Children living in highly polluted districts of Ulaanbaatar have been found to have lower lung function than children living in rural areas, with concrete risks of chronic respiratory disease later in life.

There are real reasons that air pollution affects children differently, and profoundly. According to Dr. Malchinkhuu Danzan, of the National Centre for Maternal and Child Health, “Children’s exposure to air pollution is of special concern because their immune system and lungs are not fully developed. The younger the children, the greater the impact of air pollution will be on their health.” The net effect? “Air pollution leads to respiratory insufficiency, which is complicated with inflammation and can damage a child’s lungs, and cause a dangerous risk to child’s life,” concludes Dr. Malchinkhuu.

Acting on the data

“I want my children to live in an environment with clean air to breathe. It should be an essential right for every human being.” –Khongorzul 

UNICEF is responding to the urgent needs of children like Nandin-Erdene. UNICEF Mongolia is scaling up its engagement in environment and air pollution.

In January, UNICEF convened an international conference with world and national experts to discuss scientific evidence on air pollution and child health, and to foster a policy discussion – all in close collaboration with national partners. The conference and its recommendations have triggered accelerated actions to reduce the burden of pneumonia among children in Ulaanbaatar, while simultaneously focusing on measures to reduce air pollution exposure in older children that contribute to the burden of chronic respiratory disease.

UNICEF will also focus on reducing the incidence of pneumonia by supporting vaccine introduction and treatment, complementary interventions like better nutrition and breastfeeding, and measures to promote positive behaviour change.

“Current exposures of children to air pollution have not been experienced by previous generations, and this generation is projected to suffer from unprecedented levels of chronic respiratory disease later in life. The disease burden of pneumonia can and should be prevented, as too many children still die during the longest cold season,” says UNICEF Mongolia Representative Roberto Benes. “That is why reducing air pollution is a moral imperative but also a most effective investment for Mongolia’s future generations and sustainable development built on health and human capital.”

It is only with collective urgent efforts and aggressive policy measures that this hope can become a reality. For its part, UNICEF Mongolia is continuing to scale up its efforts to provide children with the essence of development: a healthier environment to live in.

Source: Air pollution is endangering children’s health in Mongolia | At a glance: Mongolia | UNICEF

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The country with the worst air pollution is not the one you’re thinking of 

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

A man wearing a mask walks past trees shrouded with pollution haze in Beijing in 2014. (Andy Wong/AP)

It’s a never-ending debate in Asia — whose air quality is worse, China’s or India’s? A new study by Greenpeace released Monday is trying to answer that question.

Analysts looked at NASA satellite images and found that measurements of particulate matter — the microscopic particles that invade your lungs and can cause cancer and heart disease — improved impressively in China over the past few years while air quality in India has worsened, with 2015 ranking as India’s most polluted year on record.

The satellite images showed that the levels of PM2.5 particles decreased by 17 percent in China from 2010 to 2015 and 15 percent in the United States while rising 13 percent in India, the study found.

For the first time, Greenpeace found, the average Indian citizen was exposed to more particulate matter than the average Chinese. The images below from Greenpeace show China’s air quality worsening, then improving — while India’s has steadily worsened:

Satellite data shows China’s air quality worsening from 2005 to 2011, then improving from 2011 to 2015. However, India’s air quality has steadily worsened. (Greenpeace)

The study also found that the average annual PM2 level for India’s capital, New Delhi, was also higher than in Beijing — an average of 81 for Beijing, 128 for Delhi and 12 for Washington, D.C.

China has made a concerted effort to address its air pollution problem in recent years after widespread public outcry over filthy air that put pressure on the government to release better pollution data. The Greenpeace study credits China’s national pollution action plan launched in 2013 for its “impressive” improvement. That included tightening emission standards for coal-fired power plants and heavy industry and increasing emissions monitoring and enforcement.

However, the study notes that pollution levels in China remain “alarmingly high.”

Meanwhile, in India, public outrage has only just begun to coalesce around the problem. Indian newspapers have run high-profile series on air pollution in recent months and the Delhi government has instituted an odd-even day driving plan this winter to control the worsening air.

The study suggests that India should put in place a pollution action plan that sweeps from Punjab to West Bengal in the northern part of the country, where pollution is the worst, enforce compliance for coal-fired power plants and institute air quality monitoring systems for all major urban centers. India has a dearth of online monitoring systems in place in its cities — only 39 such stations compared to 1,500 in China, 770 in the United States and 1,000 in Europe, the study found.

Source: The country with the worst air pollution is not the one you’re thinking of – The Washington Post

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Transport largest source of air pollution

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Yangon’s traffic congestion is a major factor in fouling the city’s air, experts say. Speaking at an air quality seminar, Dr Than Htut, a retired head of the Occupational Health Unit, said it was the most important of three major causes of air pollution, the other two being electricity distribution and industry.

Particles and dust known as PM10, detected in quality control tests around the city, could cause respiratory diseases and chronic lung ailments, he said.

Daw Than Than Win, deputy head of Yangon City Development Committee’s Environmental Conservation Department, told the seminar at the Health Museum on February 19 that a range of harmful gases, including sulphur dioxide, had been detected.

Yangon began monitoring its air quality in 2007. The ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESE), the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and YCDC had begun working together to test air quality in Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw in 2012. Testing is still proceeding in 22 separate locations.

The four air quality testing instruments in use measured 11 factors: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, relative humidity, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, particulate metal 10 micron (PM10), PM 2.5, wind speed, wind direction and temperature. Yangon air is marked by the presence of PM10, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, she said.

The heaviest concentrations were in industrial zones in Hlaing Tharyar and Thilawa.

However, air pollution in Yangon is still less than that in large cities in neighbouring countries.

Source: Transport largest source of air pollution

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Air pollution could be killing 2500 people a year in Scotland

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

New research estimates that air pollution is responsible for 2500 deaths a year in Scotland.

A report from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has shown that 40,000 deaths are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution each year across the UK.

And based on this research, Friends of the Earth Scotland calculates this equates to between 2500 and 3500 deaths a year in Scotland.

Emilia Hanna, air pollution campaigner for Friends of the Earth Scotland said: “This new research shows that the previous official figure for how many people die early from air pollution (29,000) underestimated the scale of the problem, and that air pollution is a much more serious public health crisis than previously understood.

“Based on this new research we can estimate that over 2500 people in Scotland are dying early from air pollution each year.

“Breathing in toxic fumes increases the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or cancer. Children, especially those growing up in urban settings, are forced to breathe in tiny harmful chemicals and studies have shown a link between exposure to nitrogen dioxide and children’s lung development. Air pollution can also cause developing foetuses to fail to grow to their full potential.”

She continued: “Traffic is the main cause of today’s air pollution, so the solutions are simple, we need less traffic on the roads and vehicles need to have cleaner emissions.

“The Government must invest more money into sustainable travel modes like walking and cycling so that it is easier for people to do without a car. It must also roll out Low Emission Zones in each major city in the country by 2018, which would ban the most polluting vehicles from city centres.

“It is shocking that despite the overwhelming evidence showing that air pollution is a top killer and that traffic is the key cause, the Scottish Government continues to pour millions of pounds into unnecessary road building.”

She added: “When the Scottish Government decides its budget this Wednesday, this new evidence must make it reinvest a portion of its motorways budget back into walking and cycling projects.”

Source: Air pollution could be killing 2500 people a year in Scotland – Montrose Review

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Indoor and outdoor air pollution ‘claiming at least 40,000 UK lives a year’ 

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Report finds air pollution inside and outside the home is costing £20bn a year as well as causing tens of thousands of deaths

Air pollution both inside and outside the home causes at least 40,000 deaths a year in the UK, according to new report, which estimates the cost of the damage at £20bn.

The major health impact of outdoor air pollution is relatively well known but the report, from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, also highlights the less understood impact of indoor pollution, as well as the growing evidence of harm to children’s health and intelligence.

Sources of indoor air pollution include smoking, faulty boilers, gas cookers and heaters, as well as irritant chemicals from new furniture, air fresheners and household cleaning products. House-dust mites, mould and dander from pets can also damage health, according to the report.

Outdoor pollution, much of it from vehicles, causes 40,000 deaths a year in the UK but the number linked to indoor pollution is not known. However, indoor air pollution is estimated to have caused or contributed to 99,000 deaths across Europe in 2012, the report states.

The report found unborn and young children were particularly susceptible to air pollution. “The developing heart, lung, brain, hormone systems and immunity can all be harmed by pollution,” the report said. “Research is beginning to point towards effects on growth, intelligence, asthma, and development of the brain and coordination. Harm to babies and children will have an impact that lasts far into the future.”

“When our patients are exposed to such a clear and avoidable cause of death, illness and disability, it is our duty to speak out,” said Prof Stephen Holgate, an asthma expert at Southampton University who led the report. “We now know that air pollution has a substantial impact on many chronic long-term conditions, increasing strokes and heart attacks in susceptible individuals. And now there is compelling evidence that air pollution is associated with new onset asthma in children and adults.”

Dr Andrew Goddard, at the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Taking action to tackle air pollution in the UK will reduce the pain and suffering for many people with long term chronic health conditions, not to mention lessening the long term demands on our NHS.”

Many people in the UK are currently exposed to illegal levels of air pollution. The UK government lost a supreme court legal battle in 2015 and was forced to produce an action plan. If successful, this will cut air pollution to legal levels by 2020 in most cities and 2025 in London.

The new report found that, although the government and the World Health Organization set “acceptable” limits for air pollution, there is in fact no level of exposure that can be seen to be safe, with any exposure carrying a risk.

The report called for a wide-ranging set of measures to tackle the problem, including tougher regulations to limit air pollution such as reliable testing of emissions from vehicles. Whilst Volkswagen actually cheated emissions tests, most manufacturer’s diesel cars produce far more pollution on the road than when being tested. On 3 February, the European parliament failed to veto loopholes in air pollution limits on new diesel cars.

Another measure demanded by the new report is for local authorities to have the power to close or divert roads to reduce the traffic, especially near schools, when air pollution levels are high.

The issue of indoor air pollution also needs more research, said the report: “We must strengthen our understanding of the key risk factors and effects of poor air quality in our homes, schools and workplaces.” It noted: “The drive to reduce energy costs, by creating homes with tighter ventilation, could be making the situation worse.”

National action to fight climate change will also help to cut air pollution, according to the report, which said meeting the UK’s carbon emissions target would lead each year to 5,700 less deaths and fewer hospital admissions for lung and heart problems.

The public can play a part in cutting air pollution too, said Prof Jonathan Grigg, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health: “We ask the public to consider using public transport, walking and cycling, and not choosing to drive high-polluting vehicles.”

Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of The British Lung Foundation, said: “This landmark report lays out in the starkest terms yet the devastating impact air pollution is having on our health, our children’s health, our economy and society as a whole. [In particular, children] should not have to pay the price for what has happened to the air they breathe.”

Prof Anthony Frew, a respiratory medicine expert at the Royal Sussex county hospital and not involved in the research, said: “While this report is interesting, its findings have to be seen in the context that on average we live longer, healthier lives than we did in previous generations, and that much of this is due to falling pollution levels. Furthermore, the ‘deaths caused by air pollution’ are generally considered to be deaths that are brought forward, rather than deaths that would not have happened.”

Source: Indoor and outdoor air pollution ‘claiming at least 40,000 UK lives a year’ | Environment | The Guardian

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Malaysian Borneo’s air quality hits hazardous levels as forest fires rage 

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

The fires have spurred an emergency response from the state fire and rescue department, which is at the same time scrambling to manage nearly 8,000 people displaced by floods.

KUALA LUMPUR: Forest fires spread over 500 acres in the north of the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo island have raised air pollution to hazardous levels on Monday (Feb 22) in areas close to the inferno, government data showed.

The fires have spurred an emergency response from the state fire and rescue department, which is at the same time scrambling to manage nearly 8,000 people displaced by floods in Sarawak’s southern region as of Monday morning, according to the Bernama newswire.

Sensors located in the coastal town of Miri – which is closest to the fires – registered an air pollutant index reading of over 300 parts per million (ppm) as at 9 a.m., though it went down to 185 ppm as at 3 p.m., the data showed. Readings above 300 ppm are deemed a health hazard.

State Fire and Rescue Department director Nor Hisham Mohammad told Reuters that the situation in the north of Malaysia’s largest state is “quite bad” and expects the fires to rage for a “minimum of one week”.

Sarawak’s forests are renowned for being home to eight out of the world’s 54 species of hornbills, according to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, and also to the Orang Utan in some regions of the Bornean state.

Nor Hisham said the fires are unlikely to have affected the local wildlife as their numbers would be small because most of the timber in the area was already harvested.

The fires, however, forced local authorities to evacuate 650 students from an industrial training centre on Sunday, but classes have since resumed on Monday morning, Nor Hisham said.

Nor Hisham said a total of 50 personnel along with two helicopters and two excavators have been deployed and are working round the clock to contain the fires.

The fire and rescue department believes local hunters had started the fires, but are still investigating the matter.

Malaysian Meteorological Department senior officer Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the severity of the fires was caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which typically affects the northern region of Sarawak and the neighbouring state of Sabah.

Forest fires have increased in frequency over the past few years in Sarawak, where there are large tracts of peat soil.

This year’s forest fires, however, cover more than double the 200 acres in the same region scorched by forest fires in July last year.

Source: Malaysian Borneo’s air quality hits hazardous levels as forest fires rage – Channel NewsAsia

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UK air pollution ‘linked to 40,000 early deaths a year’ 

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution is contributing to about 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK, say the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health.

They say emissions from diesel engines have been poorly controlled and indoor air pollution has been overlooked.

Tobacco still poses the biggest indoor threat, but wood-burning stoves, spray deodorants, cleaning products, air fresheners and fly spray contribute.

Mould and mildew in poorly ventilated rooms can also cause illness.

“Being indoors can offer some protection against outdoor air pollution, but it can also expose us to other air pollution sources,” the report says.

“There is now good awareness of the risks from badly maintained gas appliances, radioactive radon gas and second-hand tobacco smoke, but indoors we can also be exposed to NO2 [nitrogen dioxide] from gas cooking and solvents that slowly seep from plastics, paints and furnishings.

“The lemon-and-pine scents that we use to make our homes smell fresh can react chemically to generate air pollutants, and ozone-based air fresheners can also cause indoor air pollution.”

Co-author Prof Jonathan Grigg said there was now clear evidence that air pollution – largely from factories and traffic – was linked to heart disease and lung problems, including asthma.

“As NHS costs continue to escalate due to poor public health – asthma alone costs the NHS an estimated £1bn a year – it is essential that policy makers consider the effects of long-term exposure on our children and the public purse,” he said.

Prof Grigg said the public could also help by:

  • walking, cycling or taking the bus or train instead of driving, when possible
  • keeping gas appliances and solid fuel burners in good repair
  • making homes more energy efficient

Prof Stephen Holgate, asthma expert at Southampton University and chairman of the reporting group, warned against complacency.

“We all have a part to play to cut environmental pollution. We can’t see it, smell it or taste it, which is why people do not necessarily think we have a problem,” he said.

“When you see cars piling up on the way to school taking their children, the fumes directly from the vehicle in front are being vented straight into the car behind, and exposing their child – and yet we are ignoring this,” he added.

He called for authorities to monitor pollution levels more closely, build new homes away from busy roads and consider closing particularly polluted roads at certain times.

He also advised people to open and close windows in the home several times a day.

“It’s amazing that we are now living in these tight, sealed homes that we are frightened of opening the window and letting a bit of fresh air in,” he told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.

Source: UK air pollution ‘linked to 40,000 early deaths a year’ – BBC News

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Beijing raises ‘red alert’ threshold for air pollution warning 

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Respro® UK Ltd

From March, China’s capital will bring in new sliding scale for air quality, after issuing its first ever ‘red alert’ for the city in December

Smog covers Beijing and Shanghai in December, as China’s government issues its first ever ‘red alert’ for the capital.

Beijing is to raise the thresholds for issuing its highest air pollution warnings, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, two months after acrid smog triggered the city’s first ever “red alert”.

In future, the highest alert will be issued only when the daily average air quality index (AQI) is forecast to exceed 500 for a day, 300 for two days in a row or 200 for four days, Xinhua reported, citing Beijing’s environmental protection bureau.

At present, a red alert is issued when the AQI is forecast to exceed 200, a level the US deems “very unhealthy”, for at least three days.

Schools were closed and outdoor construction work was suspended when thick smog prompted Beijing to issued its first red alert in December 2015.

The new criteria take effect at the end of March and are designed to standardise pollution alerts across Beijing, the neighbouring port city of Tianjin and four cities in the surrounding Hebei province, Xinhua reported.

Liu Wei, deputy head of the emergency response office at the environmental protection bureau, said the move would in effect tighten the pollution controls for the outlying regions, according to Xinhua.

Pollution is a sensitive topic in China, with thousands of protests sparked every year by concerns about environmental degradation.

Environmental officials admit China is unlikely to meet the air quality standards set by the state until at least 2030.

Beijing, one of China’s most polluted cities, announced in January it would close 2,500 small highly polluting firms in 2016. It also plans to develop a network of ventilation “corridors” to help disperse smog, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

Source: Beijing raises ‘red alert’ threshold for air pollution warning | World news | The Guardian

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