Even Low Levels of Industrial Pollution Shortens Life Span of Older People

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Older people are living shorter life span due to airborne contaminants produced by ‘dirty diesel’ pollution from traffic, wildfires, and other industries.

Researchers argue in an in-depth study released in Health Effects Institute (HEI), that even low levels of pollution have adverse health effects in senior citizens. The first-of-its-kind study tracked some 68.5 million people over four years, and extended to people living in rural areas and towns with little industry.

MarketWatch reported the study’s findings which suggest that if the federal rules for allowable emissions become slightly more stringent, some 143,000 deaths could have been prevented over the course of ten years.

Air pollution as significant contributor to the global diseases  

According to HEI’s recent Global Burden of Disease – Major Air Pollution Sources report, a major source of fine-particle soot comes from the burning of fossil fuels, accounting for more than 1 million deaths globally.

The 2021 Research Report shows that even though air pollution concentrations have declined over the past few decades, several studies in the past had recorded association of relatively low concentrations of these particles to great risk of mortality and long-term exposures. In addition, health problems linked to air pollution tends to concentrate on the youngest and oldest, and thus most vulnerable, citizens.

Meanwhile, elderlies living downwind of fracking sites also had an increased risk of premature death.

“There is an urgent need to understand the causal link between living near or downwind of [unconventional oil and gas development] and adverse health effects,” said study co-author Francesca Dominici in US News. The researchers analyzed data on more than 15 million Medicare beneficiaries who lived in all major U.S. fracking exploration regions between 2001 and 2015.

Risk of ‘Death by Dirty Diesel’  

A non-profit group named Clean Air Task Force (CATF) issued a U.S.-focused digital tool tracking deaths and economic impact linked to diesel fuel. The group calls it “Death by Dirty Diesel”.

“Diesel vehicle emissions are wreaking havoc on communities across the United States. This interactive map explores the negative health impacts of diesel emissions by U.S. state, county, and metropolitan area, with data on the deaths from diesel, as well other health and economic risks associated with diesel pollution,” the task force said on the website.

Aside from cars, Diesel powers commercial trucks over the nation’s roads and impacts economic areas torn up decades ago for major streets, highways and elevated interstates, to a greater degree.

According to national data, there were more than 8,000 deaths, 3,700 heart attacks, hundreds of thousands of other respiratory ailments, and nearly $1 trillion in economic damages projected for 2023 from diesel alone.

Moreover, other recent studies also linked fine-particle pollution to higher rates of death from COVID-19, particularly In Black and other communities of color living near highways, power plants and other industrial facilities.

Even Low Levels of Industrial Pollution Shortens Life Span of Older People | Nature World News
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WHY WEAR A MASK THIS WINTER

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

WHY WEAR A MASK THIS WINTER

Here are some reasons why you might want to wear an effective mask this winter:

1. Colds and flu viruses are still around and they are not just called Omicron.

2. The Allergy Season starts in February with the arrival of Hazel, Yew, Alder, Elm and Willow pollen.

3. Air pollution levels, especially in winter, are at their highest in built up cities.

4. Ventilation and heating systems on public transport do a great job of mixing air around with viruses that are present in it.

5. A mask will protect your lungs from bad, contaminated or extreme cold air.

With reusable filters, a Respro® Mask offers all-round protection. It is planet kind and will keep you in good health, ready for anything.

respro.com
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Rural air pollution may be as hazardous as urban, study finds

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

New research shows that chemical reactivity, seasonality and distribution of airborne particulate matter are critical metrics when considering air pollution’s impact on human health. Current environmental regulations focus on the mass of pollutant particles, and researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are pushing to refocus regulatory efforts on more regional and health-relevant factors.

A new study of air quality in the Midwestern U.S. found that measuring the mass concentration of PM2.5 — particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller — does not correspond well with current methods for classifying particle toxicity. Additionally, the researchers found that PM2.5 exposure may be just as hazardous in rural areas as in urban areas — evidence that challenges a common misconception that air pollution is more toxic in urban areas than in than rural areas, the researchers said.

The findings of the study, led by civil and environmental engineering professor Vishal Verma, are published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

“The EPA classification of PM2.5 accounts for particle diameter and mass, which are characteristics that are easy to measure,” Verma said. “However, not all particles that make up PM2.5 contribute to health equally.”

PM2.5 poses a health risk because it can become embedded in lung tissue when inhaled, the researchers said. Although chemically reactive fractions of these particles are known to be toxic, a previous study by Verma’s group shows that the exact relationship between PM2.5 mass and toxicity is unclear.

“Most air pollution studies have shifted focus from particle mass to a property called cellular oxidative potential,” Verma said. “Cellular oxidative potential describes the capability of the particles to generate reactive, oxygen-based chemicals that can lead to a variety of health problems in the cells of lung tissue.”

To examine the influence of oxidative potential more closely, the researchers collected PM2.5 samples weekly in the summer and fall of 2018 and in the winter and spring of 2019. They chose three urban localities: Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis; a rural location in Bondville, Illinois; and a roadside location adjacent to an interstate highway in Champaign, Illinois.

Using an automated analytical technique developed in a previous study, Verma’s team analyzed the sample composition, oxidative potential and mass. The team found that all locations shared similar levels of oxidative potental — but saw a poor correlation between oxidative potential and mass. That suggests that some of the lighter particles that make up PM2.5 contribute more to tissue damage than others, the study reports.

“Our rural samples did have less mass than those in the urban settings, but the oxidative potential was equal to samples from urban settings,” Verma said. “Additionally, the oxidative potential of the rural samples was higher in the summer than in the winter, suggesting that summertime agricultural activity can produce PM2.5 particles that are just as toxic as those from urban settings.”

The team hopes this study brings attention to these newly uncovered risks associated with PM2.5 in rural areas.

“The current methods used to measure PM2.5 oxidative potential are time-consuming and laborious, and we hope that our new methodology, combined with these study findings, makes testing for oxidative potential more appealing to environmental regulators and policymakers,” Verma said.

The National Science Foundation supported this research.

Rural air pollution may be as hazardous as urban, study finds — ScienceDaily
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Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies helped reduce air pollution levels and death rates in Europe

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies such as workplace closures in European cities reduced levels of air pollution and the number of associated deaths, according to new estimates published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

The research, which was funded by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), was led by a team of statistical health and earth observation satellite modellers based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with colleagues from CAMS.

The study compared government policies from 47 European cities from February to July 2020 and estimated the changes in pollution levels and related number of deaths avoided during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

Government measures for COVID-19 such as school and workplace closure, cancelling public events, and stay-at-home requirements had the strongest effect on reducing NO2 levels. This is linked to the reduction in road transport and local mobility which is known to be a contributor to NO2 air pollution. Spanish, French and Italian cities had the largest decrease in NO2 of between 50% and 60% during the period.

Although strong decreases in NO2 were observed, levels of fine particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 were reduced more modestly since they are also produced by natural sources (wildfires and dust), and other emission sources like residential activities, that were slightly increased during lockdown.

“The lockdown during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic created immense health and social costs, however, it has offered unique conditions to investigate potential effects of strict policies to reduce pollution levels in urban areas. This ‘natural experiment’ has given us a glimpse of how air quality can be improved by drastic public health measures that would be difficult to implement in normal times. The information can be important to design effective policies to tackle the problem of pollution in our cities.” – Antonio Gasparrini, Study Senior Author and Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

CAMS provided the surface-level data for this research using an ensemble of regional air quality models. This allowed the team to compare the concentrations of the main air pollutants with two emissions scenarios, one corresponding to business-as-usual conditions and the other corresponding to a detailed estimate of emissions resulting from the actual governmental measures taken during the first lockdown, varying for each country, each day and for each of the main activity sectors (road traffic, industry etc.).

Based on the estimates for NO2, there were 485.5 (confidence interval of 590.9; 377.6) excess deaths avoided associated with the exposure change (lockdown – business-as-usual difference), compared to 2,572.9 (confidence interval of 2,042.3; 3,070.9) excess deaths estimated under a business-as-usual scenario.

Across all pollutants, a total of more than 800 deaths were avoided with improved air quality resulting from the governmental measures taken to limit the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Paris, London, Barcelona, and Milan were among the top six cities with the highest number of avoided deaths.

Although all cities experienced a slight increase in air pollution levels after the strong decline in March and April 2020, levels remained below business-as-usual scenario estimates throughout the period studied. Restrictions on internal and international travel showed a minor impact on the local pollution levels.

Rochelle Schneider, Honorary Assistant Professor in Geospatial Data Science at LSHTM, Visiting Scientist at ECMWF, and first author of the study said: “Connecting expertise rapidly after and during the COVID-19 pandemic began has allowed us to estimate the health benefits from specific government measures. This, and other similar studies, can help drive the message that we definitely need to improve urban air quality for human health, and for the environment.”

“Government policies decided during the spring and early summer of 2020 gave us a unique opportunity to study a “real-life” scenario with lower air pollution levels. This paper conveyed strong messages on the potential of replicable, scalable, and collaborative research conducted with complementary expertise and knowledge from public health and tropical medicine universities, Copernicus, and meteorological institutes.”

Vincent-Henri Peuch, Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said: “This research benefits from a unique dataset provided by CAMS, which allows to compare as realistically and accurately as possible European air quality as it was experienced as a result of the COVID-19 measures and what would have happened under normal conditions. This overcomes many limitations of other studies, which compared for instance different years or different periods. The CAMS multi-model ensemble that has been used to generate this dataset has capabilities that have no equivalent in the world.” Vincent-Henri Peuch added: “The findings are extremely significant as they consolidate the quantitative evidence that the COVID-related government measures had a direct effect on air pollution levels areas across Europe, particularly for NO2. Beyond the analysis of the mortality during the first months of the pandemic, this study could help shape future policy as the public health benefits of reducing pollution in our cities and the effectiveness of certain measures are clear to see”.

The authors acknowledge limitations of the study, including the use of country’s overall response rather than city-specific COVID-19 interventions.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the European Union.

Source: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies helped reduce air pollution levels and death rates in Europe
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Plastic snowfall in the Alps

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Nanoplastic in the environment

In a new study, Empa researcher Dominik Brunner, together with colleagues from Utrecht University and the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, is investigating how much plastic is trickling down on us from the atmosphere. According to the study, some nanoplastics travel over 2000 kilometers through the air. According to the figures from the measurements about 43 trillion miniature plastic particles land in Switzerland every year. Researchers still disagree on the exact number. But according to estimates from the study, it could be as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastics that cover Switzerland every year, from the remote Alps to the urban lowlands. These estimates are very high compared to other studies, and more research is needed to verify these numbers.

The study is uncharted scientific territory because the spread of nanoplastics through the air is still largely unexplored. The result of Brunner’s research is the most accurate record of air pollution by nanoplastics ever made. To count the plastic particles, Brunner and his colleagues have developed a chemical method that determines the contamination of the samples with a mass spectrometer.  

Extreme conditions

The scientists studied a small area at an altitude of 3106 meters at the top of the mountain “Hoher Sonnenblick” in the “Hohe Tauern” National Park in Austria. An observatory of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics has been located here since 1886. The observatory is run by meteorologist and Arctic researcher Elke Ludewig. Since research began here in the late 19th century, the observatory has only been non-operational on four days. The research station also served as a base for the study on the spread of nanoplastics in remote areas.

Every day, and in all weather conditions, scientists removed a part of the top layer of snow around a marker at 8 AM and carefully stored it. Contamination of the samples by nanoplastics in the air or on the scientists’ clothes was a particular challenge. In the laboratory, the researchers sometimes had to remain motionless when a colleague handled an open sample.

The origin of the tiny particles was traced with the help of European wind and weather data. The researchers could show that the greatest emission of nanoplastics into the atmosphere occurs in densely populated, urban areas. About 30% of the nanoplastic particles measured on the mountain top originate from a radius of 200 kilometers, mainly from cities. However, plastics from the world’s oceans apparently also get into the air via the spray of the waves. Around 10% of the particles measured in the study were blown onto the mountain by wind and weather over 2000 kilometers – some of them from the Atlantic.  

Nanoparticles in the bloodstream

It is estimated that more than 8300 million tonnes of plastic have been produced worldwide to date, about 60% of which is now waste. This waste erodes through weathering effects and mechanical abrasion from macro- to micro- and nanoparticles. But discarded plastic is far from the only source. Everyday use of plastic products such as packaging and clothing releases nanoplastics. Particles in this size range are so light that their movement in the air can best be compared to gases.

Besides plastics, there are all kinds of other tiny particles. From Sahara sand to brake pads, the world is buzzing through the air as abrasion. It is as yet unclear whether this kind of air pollution poses a potential health threat to humans. Nanoparticles, unlike microparticles, do not just end up in the stomach. They are sucked deep into the lungs through respiration, where their size may allow them to cross the cell-blood barrier and enter the human bloodstream. Whether this is harmful or even dangerous, however, remains to be researched.

Plastic snowfall in the Alps | EurekAlert!
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Stagnant air advisory issued for Willamette Valley, fog advisory added

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

An air stagnation advisory is in effect for most of western Oregon and southwest Washington through Wednesday afternoon.

A new dense fog advisory was also issued Sunday for the central and South Willamette Valley lasting through noon Monday. It’s expected to cause poor visibility of one-quarter of a mile in areas of dense fog. 

Air stagnation can cause respiratory problems for some residents and has led to the National Weather Service recommending no outdoor burning.

Meteorologist David Bishop with the NWS in Portland explained that stagnant air is caused by a persistent ridge of high pressure over the area, usually resulting in calm weather. 

“If that ridge and calm weather decides to hang around for an extended period, the air also isn’t moving around,” he said. 

According to the NWS advisory Sunday morning, stagnant air is expected in areas below 1,500 feet elevation, lasting through 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Bishop said there would be minimal air movement in the area, which could lead to some effects on health.

“Obviously if the air is not changing out, particulate matter can hang around, which could lead to an impact,” he said.

The advisory states that the poor air quality could cause hazardous driving conditions with low visibility, and that air quality agencies “highly recommend” no outdoor burning occur and residential wood burning devices be “limited as much as possible.”

The advisory also recommends drivers slow down, use headlights in poor visibility and leave plenty of space between vehicles.

It suggests people with respiratory illness to follow their doctor’s advice for dealing with high levels of air pollution during stagnant air. 

The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency issued a “Yellow Home Wood Heating” notice for Eugene, Springfield and Oakridge for Saturday through Wednesday. The notice recommends residents not use fireplaces and wood stoves to improve air quality. 

“If you do light a fire, this is the weekend to check your smoke plume and assure it’s creating as little smoke as possible,” the notice states. “Efficient fires are small, hot and use dry, seasoned wood with open dampers.”

LRAPA’s air quality map showed both Eugene and Springfield at “good” air quality index ratings of 29 and 15, respectively at noon on Sunday. Salem was at a “good” rating of 41 a little after noon, according to the air quality website AirNow.gov. 

The NWS advisory was initially issued for the south Willamette Valley, but then was expanded to all of western Oregon and southwest Washing ton aside from the coast a little after noon Sunday. 

Stagnant air advisory issued for Willamette Valley, fog advisory added

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Dust storm from Balochistan causes haze over Mumbai, air quality drops to ‘severe’

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

As per IMD reports, a dust storm originating in the Gulf area and Karachi, Pakistan, towards Rajasthan and neighboring Gujarat, coupled with warmer temperatures in areas along the Arabian sea including Mumbai has led to sand particles entering and polluting the air.

On Sunday, Mumbai woke up to hazy weather and dust-laden winds a day after light rain in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned that hazy and cloudy skies have been reported over Mumbai, Pune, north Maharashtra and adjoining districts of Gujarat since Sunday morning and will prevail till early Monday.

As per IMD reports, a dust storm originating in the Gulf area and Karachi, Pakistan, towards Rajasthan and neighboring Gujarat, coupled with warmer temperatures in areas along the Arabian sea including Mumbai has led to sand particles entering and polluting the air.

The worst-hit was Malad, which recorded an AQI of 436. Chembur recorded an AQI of 347, Andheri – 340, Bhandup – 336, Mazgaon – 372, Worli – 319, BKC – 307, Colaba -221, Borivli -162 and Navi Mumbai 101.

Dust storm originating from Balochistan

The dust storm originated in Balochistan, Pakistan and was caused by a westerly trough combined with humid weather.

Winds carrying dust blew from south Pakistan areas and adjoining the Arabian sea towards Kutch and Saurashtra towards evening.

An IMD official said, ‘’dust storms accompanied by surface winds at a wind speed of 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph, was over Saurashtra and Kutch, and at isolated places over adjoining Gujarat region and south Rajasthan and impacted Mumbai and adjoining areas on Sunday. The Saurashtra coast has been getting dust-raising winds from Saturday evening. The Dwarka weather station reported 400-metre visibility. At Porbandar, the wind speed was more than 10 km per hour with visibility of less than one kilometer.’’

Dust storm from Balochistan causes haze over Mumbai, air quality drops to ‘severe’ – Cities News
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Lack of information related to pollution exposure key issue for low-income households

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

A lack of information is an often overlooked but important cause of pollution exposure among low-income households or communities of color, according to University of Michigan researchers.

The researchers say the disproportionate exposure of pollution on those vulnerable groups is widely studied and known, as are such causes as income inequality, discrimination and the decision of industries to locate factories in places where their costs are lowest. Still, they find limited or missing information about pollution also affects those groups or communities to a greater degree than other segments of the population—with far less attention paid to what this means from an environmental justice standpoint.

“Society frequently fails to recognize just how much pollution people are exposed to and how much it affects their health,” said Catherine Hausman, an associate professor at the Ford School of Public Policy who co-authored the study with Samuel Stolper, an environmental and energy economist with U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability. “This failure disproportionately hurts low-income communities, and it’s one of the many reasons that the current push for environmental justice is important.”

The researchers developed a model of the housing decision near a source of pollution when air quality isn’t known. Their goal was to shed light on how information failures affect pollution exposure and household well-being—focusing on how those impacts differ across income levels.

They concur with common findings that low-income households are exposed to more pollution, but their work also shows that those households are exposed to more hidden pollution and experience greater damages from a lack of information. The latter two, more novel findings occur because households sort according to known pollution, which is positively correlated with hidden pollution because of the way it dissipates, the study says.

Hidden pollution is more challenging, researchers say, precisely because of its intangibility: Pollution isn’t always visible or odor-producing. What’s more, government air-quality monitoring is sparse and regulators rely on self-reporting for certain emissions—and some companies have been prosecuted for tampering with equipment or obscuring pollution levels.

Beyond what it reveals about pollution exposure, Hausman and her colleagues say hidden factors and the lack of information about them could create income-based or racial disparities in other contexts, such as climate change or groundwater sources.

As far as recommendations, the study notes a Biden administration order that calls for creating new data tools and communication plans for dealing with environmental injustices. Among other things, the order directs environmental officials to create a community notification program to provide real-time data to the public on pollution, including emissions and toxins.

Such policies are valuable and attainable because they are less costly and politically challenging to implement, but the researchers caution they alone aren’t sufficient for full equity.

The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Lack of information related to pollution exposure key issue for low-income households
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