Respro® Bulletin Board

Growing evidence suggests tiny particles can affect the heart, lungs, blood pressure and risk foetal growth

The clear blue skies of the first lockdown are being crisscrossed by contrails once again. These white lines are caused by ice crystals that form on the huge numbers of tiny, ultrafine particles that come from aircraft engines. Ultrafine particles are far smaller than the wavelength of light, but contrails are a rare example of them being made visible.

Ultrafine particles are not just a problem in the skies above us. Airports are a large source, and my latest research has been searching for these tiny particles close to Gatwick. They were not hard to find. The number of ultrafine particles 500 metres downwind of the airport was greater than those at the kerb of London’s busiest roads. They mostly came from aircraft during takeoff and landing, but traffic, car parks and a large catering facility used to cook airline food all added to the problem.

In 2021, the Dutch Health Council and the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the growing evidence that ultrafine particles are damaging our health. This includes 75 studies; mostly relating to lung inflammation, blood pressure and heart problems, along with risks to foetal growth. However, technical differences between the studies meant that the WHO has not set a standard.

We are yet to understand the spread of ultrafine particles from Gatwick, but we do know they can travel a long way. Ultrafine particles from aircraft have been found across the Los Angeles suburbs. We have found ultrafine particles from Heathrow across large areas of west London, and they can be detected more than 12 miles (20km) away in the city centre. It is a similar situation in several European cities, meaning millions of people are exposed.

More than 10 years ago I was part of a study that found day to day changes in ultrafine particles in London matched the number of people dying or going to hospital with heart problems. Since then, I have tracked reductions in ultrafine particles in our cities as a side-effect of regulations to tackle other air pollutants. These include removing sulphur impurities from diesel fuel and requiring particle filters on the exhausts of new vehicles.

Researchers have suggested that sulphur is removed from aircraft fuel too, to match the tight limits on sulphur in diesel and petrol. This would be a possible solution for ultrafine particles.

In the meantime, Bristol airport’s expansion was approved earlier this month and Gatwick is applying to increase capacity by bringing its emergency runway into regular use. Ultrafine particles are not included in the environmental assessments, putting us at risk of increased air pollution for decades to come.

Pollutionwatch: ultrafine particles from aircraft engines endanger lives | Air pollution | The Guardian

Babies and children sitting in bicycle trailers breathe in more polluted air than the adults riding the bikes that pull them—but trailer covers can help halve air pollution levels, according to research from the University of Surrey.

In research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, Surrey’s Global Center for Clean Air Research (GCARE) found that on journeys typical of school or nursery runs, the average concentration of coarse air pollution particles in a bike trailer is 14% higher than at cyclist height and 18% higher than cyclist height in the afternoons when parents or carers typically collect children.

The researchers found that young children were exposed to even higher concentrations of air pollution during peak morning periods at urban pollution hotspots, such as traffic lights.

Air pollution is a leading cause of death in children under the age of five.

Professor Prashant Kumar, Founding Director of GCARE at the University of Surrey, said:

“It’s unfortunate that the very people who help minimize pollution by cycling rather than driving can be exposing their children to higher levels of pollution, and I’d encourage adults pulling bike trailers to use covers in heavy traffic. With the use of electric-assisted cargo bikes growing rapidly in Europe, it’s crucial traffic planners ensure road infrastructure is designed to enable safe use of sustainable transport options.”

In their peer-reviewed study, the GCARE researchers detailed how they simulated the exposure profiles of an adult cyclist and young children sitting in a bike trailer attached to it for multiple air pollutants during the school runs in the morning and afternoon hours. Taking measurements on over 80 runs covering 176km, the researchers assessed the differences in exposure concentrations on the bike compared within the trailer.

The researchers compared pollution in bike trailers with and without covers, finding that concerned parents and carers can reduce their children’s exposure to pollutants by using a trailer cover. Covers halved the levels of fine particles in trailers during peak morning hours.

The study also discussed the impact of lockdown restrictions. When schools were closed and vehicle journeys limited to essential travel at the start of last year, bike trailer concentrations of fine pollution particles were reduced by up to 91% compared with the eased lockdown period when schools re-opened in March 2021.

In future, the researchers hope to secure funding to continue their research so they can build an exposure profile database in a variety of bike trailers under diverse traffic and built environmental conditions.

Indoor and outdoor air pollution is estimated by the World Health Organization to be a leading cause of one in ten deaths in children under the age of five years, a group particularly vulnerable to the negative health impacts of air pollution. In 2016 alone, exposure to outdoor air pollution led to nearly 543,000 premature deaths of children worldwide under the age of five.

Babies in bike trailers exposed to higher levels of pollutants than their parents, study finds

Smog blanketed Greater Bangkok on Tuesday morning with the worst pollution in Wang Thonglang district of the capital city.

The Pollution Control Department reported that levels of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and less in diameter ranged from 39 to 73 microgrammes per cubic metre of air over the past 24 hours. The local safe threshold is set at 50mcg.

The worst pollution was detected on Soi Lat Phrao 95 and Lat Phrao Road in Wang Thonglang.

Other areas in Bangkok with unsafe PM2.5 levels were in Thon Buri, Bang Khunthian, Bang Na, Pathumwan, Thon Buri, Din Daeng, Bung Kum, Klong Sam Wa, Chom Thong, Phra Khanong, Rat Burana, Bang Phlad, Bang Khae, Dusit, Pomprap Satruphai, Samphanthawong, Phaya Thai, Bang Rak, Sathon, Bang Kho Laem, Don Muang, Bang Kapi, Lat Krabang, Phasi Charoen, Thawi Wattana, Taling Chan, Nong Khaem, Khlong Toei and Bang Sue.

Similar readings were detected in adjacent areas – Phra Pradaeng and Muang districts of Samut Prakan; Klong Luang district of Pathum Thani; Muang and Krathum Baen districts of Samut Sakhon; and Muang district of Nakhon Pathom.

The Pollution Control Department advised people in these areas to reduce their outdoor activities.

Air quality was expected to improve from Feb 9 to 15 as winds picked up.

Bangkok air unsafe, again

An environmental alert has been issued in the Colombian capital, Bogota, threatened by smoke from active forest fires affecting an area the size of Paris in the country’s Amazon region, local authorities announced on Saturday.

Winds have blown smoke from the fires as far as the Colombian capital, about 350 km to the northwest, Belga news agency reports.

“The city is now on an environmental alert,” Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez tweeted on Saturday.

Over half of the capital’s air-quality monitoring stations had continuously reported high levels of pollution over the previous 48 hours, the mayor said, calling on the capital’s eight million inhabitants to refrain from any open-air activity for the next few days, Belga reported.

Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD – Spanish acronym) reported on Saturday in its latest information bulletin that a total of 301 forest fires had broken out between 16 December and 4 February, affecting a combined area of 86,800 hectares. Thus far, 291 fires have been extinguished, according to the UNGRD, which blamed the fires on extremely dry weather and “criminal hands.”

The Colombian Government feels the fires have been set by former rebels who decided to stop complying with the historic 2016 peace agreement that led to the disarmament of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, a Marxist guerilla group, Belga reported.

The dissidents, as they are called in Colombia, plan to grab land and illegally practice extensive cattle farming, according to Defence Minister Diego Molando, who published a list of 17 presumed culprits.

Due to the fires, 597 municipalities are now on varying phases of alert, according to the UNGRD: 550 are on red alert – the highest level – while 38 are on orange and 9 on yellow.

Some of the municipalities on red alert are in the southeastern department of Guaviare, whose governor, Heydeer Palacio, said “10,000 hectares,” – almost the size of Paris (10,500 ha) had been consumed by fire. The affected area includes the Parque Nacional Natural Serrania del Chiribiquete, located between Guaviare and neighbouring Caqueta Department, both of which are located in the country’s Amazon region.

The Parque Nacional Natural Serrania del Chiribiquete is the world’s largest tropical rainforest national park and a UNESCO world heritage site.

The Colombian Government on Saturday announced the launch, in the park, of the latest phase of Artemisa, a campaign linking the Ministries of Defence and Environment and aimed at protecting the country’s biodiversity by going after groups that threaten it.

“There are gangs of delinquents trying to grab land,” the Buenos Aires based news service, Infobae, quoted Environment Minister Carlos Eduardo Correa as saying in its Sunday edition. “They have been cutting down and burning trees, and we can see fires in various areas of the national park,” he said.

Phase 14 of the Artemisa Campaign is aimed at stopping the illegal destruction of the park by capturing those responsible and having them prosecuted, Infobae reported.

Forest fires in Amazonian region trigger environmental alert in Colombia’s capital