Living in more polluted areas increases risk for poor mental wellbeing

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

People in the UK who live in more polluted areas, such as near busy roads, are at a higher risk of poor mental wellbeing, new research led by the University of St Andrews has found.

The study examined four types of air pollutants—nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and two types of particulate matter, those with diameters of less than 10 and 2.5µm (micrometers)—and linked these to individual-level health data.

It found a connection between air pollution and people reporting low mental wellbeing affects such as feeling unhappy, being under stress and not being able to concentrate.

It also found a potential link between increasing concentration of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter and elevated scores of poor mental wellbeing for people from a Pakistani/Bangladeshi origin in comparison with British-White people, and for non-UK born individuals in comparison with those born in the UK.

Nitrogen dioxide is mainly produced from traffic exhaust around busy roads, while sulfur dioxide is mainly an industrial type of pollutant. Nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide are gaseous types of pollutants. Particulate matter is related to both traffic exhaust and industrial processes and it is made up of microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in the atmosphere.

Mary Abed Al Ahad, of the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at St Andrews, says that “the main conclusion from the study was that living in a polluted area appears to be linked to suffering from mental wellbeing issues.”

“Our results cross disciplines to provide environmental health researchers and policymakers with the needed evidence towards reducing air pollution emissions to improve the individual’s mental wellbeing and health.”

“However, further research will be needed to examine the link between pollution and wellbeing more closely.”

The study used data from the Understanding Society: The UK household Longitudinal Study which measured wellbeing using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) scale, a widely used scale in population health research to capture non-psychotic psychiatric illness.

The GHQ12 scale is composed of 12 questions about an individual’s experience of 12 symptoms related to mental wellbeing in the few weeks preceding the data collection date.

The 12 questions are on subjects including: ability to concentrate; losing much sleep; feeling you are playing a useful part; capability of taking decisions; being under stress; inability to overcome difficulties; enjoying normal activities; being able to face up to problems; feeling unhappy and depressed; losing confidence; thinking of self as worthless; and feeling reasonably happy.

Individuals are then asked to rate the questions and a general mental wellbeing score is formulated.

The paper is published in PLOS ONE and is available online.

Living in more polluted areas increases risk for poor mental wellbeing
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Mother’s exposure to air pollution associated with low-birth-weight babies

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Since babies with low birth weight often have poor health outcomes, there is considerable interest in identifying the factors that affect birth weight. Air pollution has been identified as one possible factor, however several studies have produced conflicting results and there is scarce data from the Middle East region. A recent study, initiated by Professor Hagai Levine of the Hebrew University (HU)-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health, showed unequivocally that air pollution is associated with low-birth-weight babies. Using personal, anonymized data and detailed high-resolution pollutant data enabled the Hebrew U. team to produce more accurate statistical analyses. Indeed, Levine maintains, “it is now clear that governments need to set up the infrastructure to integrate environmental and health data at the personal level.”

This study, led by Wiessam Abu Ahmad, a doctoral student of Levine and Prof. Ronit Nirel at HU’s Department of Statistics and Data Science, looked at the link between an air pollutant known as PM2.5 and the birth weight of 380,000 singleton babies born to mothers all over in Israel during the years 2004–2015. Their findings were published this week in the journal Environmental Research.

Israel, a country with the highest fertility rate among OECD countries and high levels of the air pollutant PM2.5, made it an ideal location to look for an association between low birth weight and poor air quality. Abu Ahmad explained that as the model included siblings, it enabled the estimation of the variance in low birth weight to be accounted for by variances between different mothers, leading to more accurate estimates. The data used by the research team included: personal anonymized data on the mothers, including the area where they lived and the weight of their babies at birth (provided by Maccabi Health Services); and daily air pollutant concentration over each square kilometer of Israel, derived from satellite data (provided by Ben Gurion University).

The study clearly showed the association between the level of the air pollutant PM2.5 and low birth weight. It also revealed that mothers who were underweight and those of lower socioeconomic status were more vulnerable to exposure to air pollution. Further, the study found that the association with air pollution was stronger among female babies and first births—a fact that is thought to be due to a biological mechanism that has yet to be identified.

The association of air pollutants with low birth weight raises the question of whether the Israeli government should take the impact on the developing baby into account and increase its efforts to reduce pollution. That said, much of the pollution in Israel is carried in by the wind from other countries.

The findings are, however, an important contribution in identifying a contributory cause to low birth weight. Most importantly, this study breaks new ground in establishing the value of collecting personal detail relating to individuals rather than taking averages over aggregated data.

Mother’s exposure to air pollution associated with low-birth-weight babies
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A NEW GENERATION OF RESPRO® MASKS

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Respro® have developed a range of CE certified masks based on our popular existing sports masks.

It provides you with the assurance that our masks as a whole (not just the filter), are fully tested and comply with European requirements for the use of respiratory masks in the Health and Safety at Work market.

All of our CE masks are certified FFP-1R and come fitted with a long lasting CE 250 Hepa-Type™ filter for sub-micron particulate filtration and an adjustable head strap to ensure that the mask maintains its seal even in the most active sports.

All of our non CE masks are manufactured to a similar technical specification and we can assure you that the build quality remains the same. If you are looking to upgrade your current mask to a CE specification mask then all you need is the following parts:

1. CE 250 Hepa-Type™ filter

2. Respro® Mask Strap MK2

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Half of US adults were exposed to harmful lead levels as kids, study finds

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Researcher calls findings ‘infuriating’ as team finds significant impact on cognitive development

Over 170 million Americans who were adults in 2015 were exposed to harmful levels of lead as children, a new study estimates.

Researchers used blood-lead level, census and leaded gasoline consumption data to examine how widespread early childhood lead exposure was in the country between 1940 and 2015.

In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, they estimated that half the US adult population in 2015 had been exposed to lead levels surpassing five micrograms per deciliter – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention threshold for harmful lead exposure at the time.

The scientists from Florida State University and Duke University also found that 90% of children born in the US between 1950 and 1981 had blood-lead levels higher than the CDC threshold. And the researchers found significant impact on cognitive development: on average, early childhood exposure to lead resulted in a 2.6-point drop in IQ.

The researchers only examined lead exposure caused by leaded gasoline, the dominant form of exposure from the 1940s to the late 1980s, according to data from the US Geological Survey. Leaded gasoline for on-road vehicles was phased out starting in the 1970s, then finally banned in 1996. The study’s top author, Michael McFarland, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University, said the findings were “infuriating” because it was long known that lead exposure was harmful, based on anecdotal evidence of its impacts throughout history.

Though the US has implemented tougher regulations to protect Americans from lead poisoning in recent decades, the public health impacts of exposure could last for several decades, experts told the Associated Press.

“Childhood lead exposure is not just here and now. It’s going to impact your lifelong health,” said Abheet Solomon, a senior program manager at the United Nations children’s fund.

Early childhood lead exposure is known to have many impacts on cognitive development. It also increases risk for developing hypertension and heart disease, experts said.

“I think the connection to IQ is larger than we thought, and it’s startlingly large,” said Ted Schwaba, a researcher at University of Texas at Austin who studies personality psychology and was not part of the new study.

Schwaba said the study’s use of an average to represent the cognitive impacts of lead exposure could result in an overestimation of impacts on some people and underestimation in others.

Previous research on the relationship between lead exposure and IQ found a similar impact, though over a shorter study period.

Bruce Lanphear, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver who has researched lead exposure and IQ, said his 2005 study found the initial exposure to lead was the most harmful when it came to loss of cognitive ability as measured by IQ.

“The more tragic part is that we keep making the same … mistakes again,” Lanphear said. “First it was lead, then it was air pollution … Now it’s PFAS chemicals and phthalates [chemicals used to make plastics more durable].

And it keeps going on and on.“And we can’t stop long enough to ask ourselves: should we be regulating chemicals differently?” he said.

Half of US adults were exposed to harmful lead levels as kids, study finds | US news | The Guardian
Posted in Air Quality, Health Effects of Air Pollution, Medical Studies, USA, USA & Canada, World News | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bangkok air good but PM2.5 levels unhealthy in 12 upper Thailand provinces

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Twelve provinces in the North, Northeast and Central were found to have particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) in the air at levels higher than the safety standard, the Centre for Air Pollution Mitigation (CAPM) reported.

The CAPM reported at 7am that Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Nan, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, Saraburi, Bueng Kan, Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom, Kalasin and Ubon Ratchathani provinces were found to have PM2.5 inhalable particles higher than the safety standard of 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

The centre reported that the air quality in Bangkok during the past 24 hours was good with the PM2.5 measured at 15 to 34mcg per cubic metre.

The CAPM added that the air quality in the southern and eastern regions are also good with the PM2.5 being measured at 11-19mcg per cubic metre and 14-30mcg per cubic metre respectively.

At noon, the Air4Thai.com reported that the highest level of PM2.5 was measured at Tambon Meechai in Nong Khai province’s Muang district, at 93mg per cubic metre.

Forest and post-harvest plantation burnings in the northern and northeastern provinces are blamed for higher levels of PM2.5 levels there.

Bangkok air good but PM2.5 levels unhealthy in 12 upper Thailand provinces
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Air pollution in London contributes to over 1,700 hospital admissions for asthma

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

London’s poor air quality led to over 1,700 hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions between 2017-2019, according to new analysis.

The report from Imperial College London’s Environmental Research Group modelled the impact of air pollution in London on asthma admissions, comparing levels of pollution from 2019 to 2016. The report was commissioned by the Greater London Authority via Imperial Projects.

The report estimates that between 2017-2019 air pollution in London contributed to around:

700 asthma admissions in children

200 asthma admission in adults

900 asthma/Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) admissions in the elderly

These estimates are obtained by combining the pollution concentrations in London with information from previous studies on the percentage change in asthma admissions on days with different air pollution concentrations.

Improving air quality

The report does find that as a result of air quality improvements in London the number of air pollution attributable asthma admissions in London has reduced.

The improvement in air pollution levels reduced the number of hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions by 30 per cent – from 2,450 (2014 – 2016) to 1,700 (2017 – 2019).

The largest percentage improvement was among children under the age of 14 – between 2014 and 2016, around?1,000 of those admitted to hospital with airway diseases were children under 14 with asthma. Between 2016 and 2019, these air pollution attributable admissions were reduced to 700, a 30 per cent reduction.

Dr Heather Walton, Senior Author of the report, said: “Air pollution continues to contribute to many hospital admissions for asthma and COPD in London but it is good to see that these hospital admissions have decreased from 2016 to 2019 as a result of air pollution reductions in London. More policies to reduce air pollution in London should reduce these numbers further and reduce other health impacts of air pollution as well.”

The full report is available at: Health impact assessment of current and past air pollution on asthma in London

Air pollution in London contributes to over 1,700 hospital admissions for asthma | Imperial News | Imperial College London
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Air pollution when you hit the slopes?

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

A new report reveals how much air pollution there is in some of the world’s most popular skiing resorts

Air pollution has become an unfortunately common issue for many city-dwellers but how high are the levels at the top of the mountains?

Airly analysed air quality data from many ski resorts worldwide, comparing the level of PM10 – the most common type of air pollution measured.

So where should you go skiing next?

The report found that for most resorts throughout the year, the quality of air is at or below safe levels due to the high altitude.

Lower altitude resorts examined in Poland and Romania had high levels of PM10 due to their proximity to traffic and heating from coal to keep houses warm.

The cleanest resorts in the study were Oberjoch in Germany, Chamonix in France and Bolzano in Italy, due to their mountain side locations.

Resorts with more services and transport links such as ski lifts had the heaviest levels of pollution and many exhibited spikes in pollution on days of celebration such as New Year’s Eve.

The report links both population density and altitude to safer air – put simply, where more people congregate, the more pollution is exhibited.

Marcin Gnat, Airly, said: “If we could give some tips to the ski and clean air lovers, we would recommend them not to choose deep and densely urbanised valleys and instead think of more rural places on higher altitude.”

Air pollution when you hit the slopes? – Energy Live News
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Deaths linked to PM2.5 pollution in India increased 2.5x in 20 yrs: Report

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Deaths attributable to PM2.5 pollution in India have increased by 2.5 times over the last two decades, according to a new report by the Centre for Science and Environment.

The report released by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday said India accounted for one out of every four deaths due to air pollution in 2019.

Data collated by green think-tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), and represented in its “State of India’s Environment Report”, showed that 6.67 million people died due to air pollution in the world.

Of these, 1.67 million deaths occurred in India. China saw 1.85 million deaths due to air pollution.

The report said 4,76,000 infants died globally in their first month of life from health effects associated with air pollution exposure in 2019. Of these, 1,16,000 deaths occurred in India.

Poor air quality was the fourth leading risk factor for early death worldwide in 2019, surpassed only by high blood pressure, tobacco use and poor diet.

“Over the last two decades, deaths attributable to ambient PM2.5 in India has increased by 2.5 times — from 2,79,500 in 1990 to 9,79,900 in 2019,” the report read.

PM2.5 refers to fine particles which penetrate deep into the body and fuel inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract, leading to the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory problems, including a weak immune system.

Deaths attributable to ozone in India has increased by 2.9 times — from 43,200 in 1990 to 1,68,000 in 2019, it said.

However, deaths due to household air pollution in the country decreased by over 40 per cent — from 10,41,000 in 1990 to 6,06,900 in 2019, the data showed.

Deaths linked to PM2.5 pollution in India increased 2.5x in 20 yrs: Report | Business Standard News
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