More die of lung diseases in Wandsworth than national average – 4,000 remain undiagnosed

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

More people are dying of lung diseases in Wandsworth than the national average, and thousands remain undiagnosed with potentially fatal conditions according to health bosses.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), an umbrella term for a number of respiratory diseases, make it hard for people to breathe by narrowing their airways.

A report by the doctors in charge of the borough’s healthcare, Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group (WCCG), reveals Wandsworth’s emergency COPD admission rates are significantly higher than the England average and premature and overall death rates, caused by COPD, are also significantly higher than the national average.

Today the WCCG board are set to discuss the report which reveals there is an estimated 4,000 people in Wandsworth with potentially fatal undiagnosed COPD.

The NHS identifies smoking as the main cause of COPD, but links have recently been made to the effects of pollution.

The Council has a range of services to help smokers quit

Just last week medical experts warned pollution could trigger health problems after Saharan dust settled in south London and people with lung conditions could have their conditions worsened by the crisis.

Dr Keith Prowse, honorary medical advisor to the British Lung Foundation, spoke during the crisis and said there was reasonably good evidence from epidemiological studies to show pollution does appear to give a higher incidence of chest problems be they asthma, COPD, or other. Research into the impact is ongoing.

A survey of Clapham Junction shop workers revealed three quarters are concerned about the effect air pollution has on their health.

The Battersea Society, supported by London Sustainability Exchange, continued their fight against pollution on Friday, March 28, by speaking to people and distributing diffusion tubes around the area to monitor pollution levels.

The smog over London last week led warnings from experts that it could prompt attacks of COPD or make conditions worse.

An air monitoring survey carried out by the society allegedly found particle matter five times the European Union limits, readings of Nitrogen Dioxide double the legal limit and dangerous levels of lead.

However, the science was carried out with hand-held devices and over a much shorter time period than official investigations which sometimes take many months.

The society is working to apply for funding for a number of projects including painting the underside of Falcon Road railway bridge to reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution and establishing an air pollution monitoring station at Clapham Junction.

Previous studies of air pollution in the borough have revealed a number of areas suffer from very high levels of NO2, including Putney, Wandsworth Town and St John’s Hill.

The Battersea Society are concerned about air pollution in Wandsworth

A council spokesman said Wandsworth’s COPD emergency admission rate was the third lowest in inner London but admitted it was above the national average.

He said: “NHS figures confirm the vast majority of COPD cases can be linked back to smoking or passive smoking so helping people overcome their addiction is the key to prevention.

“In partnership with the NHS, we offer a range of support services to help local people get free from cigarettes and free from COPD later in life.”

Your Local Guardian: Dr Nicola Jones, chairman of Wandsworth CCG

Dr Nicola Jones the chairwoman of WCCG said they were proud that in the last year they helped put 4,800 smokers in Wandsworth on the path to a smoke-free future.

She said they were also working to ensure people got the right treatment services at the right time and added: “We are doing more to ensure lung conditions are looked after in the community wherever possible so patients are treated early before they become so ill they need hospital treatment.”

via More die of lung diseases in Wandsworth than national average – 4,000 remain undiagnosed (From Your Local Guardian).

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California’s Most Polluted Neighborhoods Home To Ethnic Minorities, Report Shows

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Many California residents, particularly in big cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, gripe about the ever-present smog that hangs over the skyline, but some communities have it far worse than others.

According to a report from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, ethnic minorities, particularly Latinos and African Americans, make up a large proportion of residents in the most polluted neighborhoods despite making up a relatively small percentage of the statewide population.

An online tool called the CalEnviroScreen depicts California’s pollution levels by ZIP code using a color scale. According to the OEHHA’s report, it represents immediate pollution levels and “potential vulnerability” for the pollution of a community. Initially launched in 2012, the tool has recently been updated to include racial and ethnic makeup of a population.

Clumps of dark blue represent the state’s most polluted areas. Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley encompass the worst scoring ZIP codes.

The report finds that African Americans, who make up less than 13 percent of the statewide population, comprise almost a third of the worst polluted ZIP codes.

Latinos, another ethnic minority group, make up a large majority of the ten percent most polluted ZIP codes. Only 37.6 percent of California residents are Latino.

What accounts for this disproportion?

Ed Avol, an expert on air pollution and its impact on public health, believes there is a socioeconomic element to consider.

“Simply put, people tend to live where they can afford to, and people generally prefer to live among their peers,” said Avol.

Others believe the connection between ethnic minorities and polluted neighborhoods is related to career opportunist rather than social circumstances.

Roberto Cabrales, a community organizer for Communities for a Better Environment in Huntington Park, attributed the link to job availability.

“It’s important to consider the historic make-up of the community,” Cabrales said. “There was a demographic change in Southeast Los Angeles in the ‘70s and ‘80s when immigrants started fleeing gang activity and started buying homes here—affordability is a key factor and these weren’t the best paying jobs, which is why Latinos tended to go after them.”

Avol pointed out that lower-rent areas are in less desirable locations, often near busy freeways or industrial facilities. People who live in these neighborhoods often get overlooked when it comes to political determinations, he said.

“Without a political ally to represent their community’s point of view, people tend to get ignored in key developmental decisions such as where a new freeway or rail yard may be built, and these facilities are rarely built in highly affluent places like Beverley Hills or Palos Verdes,” Avol said.

However, certain community groups are working hard to get the attention of their legislatures to help eliminate pollution in their neighborhoods. CBE has built its organization around the mission to “build people’s power in California’s communities of color and low income communities to achieve environmental health and justice.”

Cabrales says his primary responsibility is to engage the local community to hold elected officials and polluters responsible for cleaning up the neighborhoods.

“We’re surrounded by manufacturing hubs, stationary sources [of pollution] that produce and handle chemicals, body shops, power plants, and mobile pollution,” said Cabrales. “We’re boxed in by all the major freeways in Southern California, which elevates our risk for cancer so we make sure every decision being made involves the community.”

via California’s Most Polluted Neighborhoods Home To Ethnic Minorities, Report Shows | Neon Tommy.

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Pollution brings spike in cases for respiratory physiotherapists

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

A combination of pollution and sand blown northwards from the Sahara caused several days of reduced air quality, with eastern England particularly blighted.

Helen Jefford, specialist physiotherapist with Greenwich Community Health Services in London, part of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, said when the pollution was at its worst a helpline run by the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) team experienced an estimated 20 per cent increase in calls.

Most of those calls would have resulted in a home visit by a team member, she added. ‘And we have certainly seen more patients who have come along to our clinics who have needed treatment.’

Fluctuations in call volume were common, Ms Jefford said, particularly during the flu season or hot weather. But the pollution was unusual. ‘I could taste it in the air and my car kept getting covered in dust.’

In line with Public Health England recommendations, advice to patients was to reduce strenuous physical exertion, particularly outdoors, and for those with asthma to keep their reliever inhaler with them at all times.

Lynn McDonnell, clinical specialist physiotherapist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in central London, said: ‘We certainly saw an increase in asthma patients.’

Ms McDonnell, public relations officer for the Association for Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care, said it was too early to say categorically that the increase was linked to pollution because of the ‘natural ebb and flow’ of COPD and asthma cases. ‘There’s a big increase in pollen count at this time of year but the spike was bigger than usual so it’s more likely to be the pollution.’

In 2005 a CSP analysis of monitoring points found dangerous levels of toxic pollutants across the UK. One site in London recorded nitrogen dioxide levels three times higher than the government’s target.

The World Health Organization estimates that in 2012 about seven million people worldwide died as a result of exposure to air pollution – one in eight of all global deaths.

The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs says that of the most common pollutants, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone all irritate the lining of the lungs and worsen existing lung disease.

Carbon monoxide affects the supply of oxygen to the heart; and particulate pollutants can be carried deep into the lining of the lungs, causing inflammation.

Ms Jefford said widespread media coverage of the recent pollution had increased patients’ awareness of potential health problems. ‘It was on the news every day and was given a good amount of coverage. In terms of our patients’ understanding and what they needed to do, it did help.’

via Pollution brings spike in cases for respiratory physiotherapists | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

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Road ministry to scrap trucks and buses more than eight years old to combat air pollution

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

This is one drive that is definitely going to make the Capital’s air cleaner and traffic flow smoother.

The road ministry is planning to create ‘end of life’ directives with a cap of eight years for commercial vehicles, thereby pulling nearly 90 per cent of fume-spewing diesel trucks off Delhi’s roads.

This will make it mandatory for owners to dispose of commercial vehicles after eight years. The cap will come into effect across the country, according to senior road ministry officials, and will help address issues like pollution, congestion and lack of parking space.

The Delhi Police and various environmental experts have stated that the move will be a step in salvaging the Capital’s fast-deteriorating air quality.

A recent report said that Delhi’s alarming air pollution levels threaten to take the city back to the pre-CNG days. Much of that is being blamed on the fleet of old commercial vehicles that run on adulterated diesel.

In Delhi, the old commercial vehicles wreak maximum havoc. There are more than 3.3 lakh commercial vehicles plying on the city’s roads, and if the road ministry implements the directive, nearly 90 per cent of the trucks will be pulled off the road.

The number of buses registered with authorities in Delhi as of February 28 is almost 20,000. The old commercial vehicles, according to ministry sources, are more prone to accidents and hamper the safety of other vehicles.

In addition, such vehicles are responsible for bottlenecks and traffic jams as their breakdown rate is high. According to a recent survey conducted in the city, nearly 80 per cent of the traffic jams in Delhi occur because of such vehicles, including those that have come from other states.

“This proposal, if passed, can cleanse not only Delhi’s air, but the roads as well,” said a senior Traffic police official. According to the Centre for Science and Environment, the government also needs to issue strict instructions to automobile manufactures to provide better technology.

“If the government is planning to phase out old vehicles, they should also ensure that automobile manufacturers provide advanced emission standards for new vehicles. Euro-3 and Bharat stage-4 are old emission standards and the government has to make sure that old vehicles are replaced by Euro-5 and Euro-6 standards, otherwise it will be futile,” CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury told Mail Today.

Explaining the current situation in Delhi, Roychowdhury said whatever gains were made with the introduction of CNG in 2000 have been lost.

In addition to that, the disposal of vehicles is also a challenge, wherein manufacturers need to enhance their technology.

“The new Euro-4 technology, which is the latest technology used in cars, is still 10 years behind what is being used in the US and Europe. In India, there are more than 50 lakh commercial vehicles and 12 lakh public transport vehicles,” she added.

via Road ministry to scrap trucks and buses more than eight years old to combat air pollution | Mail Online.

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London air pollution: Boris Johnson accused of ‘complacency’ after he reveals plan to ‘beat smog’

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Boris Johnson today pledged to “beat the smog” that continues to smother London even though the Saharan dust cloud has shifted.

The Mayor said he was on a “relentless drive” to beat ongoing traffic pollution and outlined his range of measures including electric buses and an ultra low emissions zone.

But critics accused him of “complacency” over his record and suggested his plans for the new zone in six years’ time would not be enough to tackle the problem.

He angered protesters by suggesting he was a “leading connoisseur” of air quality having cycled around the capital, breathing in fumes, for 15 years.

Mr Johnson was first attacked last week for urging Londoners to “have a little balance” over Saharan dust as he had cycled to work and found the air quality “perfectly fine”.

In his Daily Telegraph column today, he hit back: “You don’t have to tell me that poor air quality is a threat to health. We know that there are 4,300 lives in London alone that are brought to a premature close by this pollution. We know it is intolerable – and we also know that we can beat it.

“We are embarked on an irreversible programme to make London’s air positively superb. Alas, we cannot control the sands of the Sahara.”

The Mayor claimed he had overseen a 20 per cent reduction in nitrous oxide emissions and a 15 per cent fall in PM10s and PM2.5s – a type of dust – over the last six years.

He set out plans last year for the world’s first ultra-low emissions zone which will cover new vehicles registered for use in the centre of town, to improve air quality by 2020.

However, existing vehicles will be exempt and Mr Johnson admitted: “We need to go further and faster, with rapid and compulsory use of the very best new technology.”

Mr Johnson was dismissive of the EU’s record on air pollution – he said emissions standards set by Brussels had not worked and it was therefore “absurd” the EU was threatening to fine the UK £300 million for breaches.

“Never mind Brussels! We can do it on our own – and far better,” he said. “Perhaps the officials of the EU commission could make themselves useful by standing over the [Sahara] desert, and threatening to fine it if it moves.”

Campaigners lined up to attack the Mayor’s record – claiming he has neglected the problem of poor air quality to date and his measures are now too little, too late.

Lib Dem Assembly member Stephen Knight said: “There is a chasm between the Mayor’s rhetoric and his real record over the last six years in tackling air pollution. Never has someone talked so big and acted so little on such an important public health issue.

“The Mayor’s proposed ultra low emission zone will not even start for six years and even then buses and taxis will be exempted from emission requirements applying to other vehicles.”

Green peer Baroness Jenny Jones added: “If the Mayor had followed through on the emergency plans he proposed in 2010 instead of dropping them, then vulnerable Londoners would have been better £300 million for excess NO2, protected during the recent high levels of pollution.

“Emergency calls for breathing problems went up, many asthma sufferers stayed indoors, but Boris Johnson cycled around a bit and said it was fine. His complacency about air pollution is staggering and a real danger to Londoners.

“After six years as Mayor his big idea for action is the ultra-low emission zone which will take another six years to get started. It’s just nowhere near enough.”

via London air pollution: Boris Johnson accused of ‘complacency’ after he reveals plan to ‘beat smog’ – Mayor – News – London Evening Standard.

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UK smog: Nitrogen doesn’t just cause air pollution – it is a huge threat to Britain’s wildlife too, experts warn

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

The nitrogen pollution contributing to Britain’s smog poses the biggest threat to wildlife that the public has never heard of – with the potential to wipe out everything from clover to butterflies in eco-systems across the country – experts have warned.

The amount of nitrogen stored in the soil as a result of soaring emissions from agriculture, power stations and cars is now so great it has reached critical levels in the majority of non-agricultural land, according to Clare Whitfield, air pollution consultant at the government’s statutory conservation adviser.

Nitrogen-rich soil reduces biodiversity because it causes species which thrive on nitrates to flourish at the expense of those that don’t.

“Nitrogen represents a major threat to biodiversity in the UK and across Europe. It is an under-acknowledged and very big issue that has slowly crept up on us,” said Ms Whitfield.

The rapid accumulation of nitrogen in the soil has already damaged eco-systems across the country as thick outcrops of beneficiaries such as grass, heather, thistles and nettles “swamp out” a wide range of species such as flowers, bees, beetles, lizards, snakes and spiders by depriving them of water, space, light and the other conditions they need.

High levels of nitrogen also cause problems by leaching into groundwater which can impair the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity in small infants causing “blue baby syndrome” and can be toxic for ruminants such as cattle and sheep.

The problem has got worse in recent years and, with the majority of eco-systems outside agriculture above the ‘critical load’ for nitrogen, that trend is set to continue, Ms Whitfield said. The critical load is the point beyond which the rate of nitrogen deposited from the air to the ground poses an increasing risk of habitat damage.

Once in the ground, nitrogen can remain for hundreds, even thousands of years while the level of accumulation is not measured and its potential impact not fully understood, experts said.

“The nitrogen level is building up all the time as we continue to add to the pot and increase the cumulative impact,” Ms Whitfield added.

Her comments will increase pressure on the government to get nitrogen levels under control two months after the European Commission launched legal proceedings against it for failing to reduce “excessive” levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution from traffic, despite 15 years of warnings and several extensions and postponements granted to the government.

Other European countries have also failed to meet the air quality directive – that should have been adopted in 2008 – but the EU environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik, has singled out Britain for its “persistent” breaches of the air quality directive. The government has been sent a letter of the formal notice of the intention to take Britain to court the government has until next Friday (April 18th) to respond.

Unlike so-called natural and semi-natural habitats, which are generally harmed by rising nitrogen levels, farmland is benefitting from the increase – and fuelling it – because crops benefit enormously from nitrogen-rich fertilisers. Ammonia, a pungent colourless compound of nitrogen and hydrogen released by livestock exacerbates the problem.

“This is the biggest threat to biodiversity that the public is not aware of. For wildlife it really is a pernicious and pertinent cause of decline in very many species as the burning of fossil fuels turns the volume of nitrate falling onto habitats from a drizzle to a downpour,” said Matt Shardlow, head of the Buglife insect charity.

“The longer we keep pouring this into natural habitats, the more it accumulates and unless we can reverse the situation we can expect many of these declines to continue,” he added.

Getting nitrates out of the ground is a “real challenge”, Mr Shadlow said. Methods include a sustained programme of “cropping off” – or burning – and removing vegetation, or deep ploughing, when a tractor turns over the top metre of soil to bury the nitrates further underground.

Nitrogen emissions also need to come down, Mr Shardlow said. “There is no obvious sign of that happening at the moment but that could start to come down with hybrid and electric cars,” he said – but adds that even if that does happen, the accumulation of nitrates in the soil will be so high that it will still need to be dealt with.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defra) said: “Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades. Just like for other [EU] member states, meeting the NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) limit alongside busy roads has been a challenge.”

“That is why we’re investing heavily in transport measures to improve the air quality around busy roads and we are working with the Commission to ensure this happens as soon as possible,” he added.

The species being edged out by rising nitrogen levels in the soil

Wildflowers such as Bird’s Foot Trefoil and Clover which don’t thrive on nitrogen and get shaded out by the plants, which also consume the water

Bees and other pollinators suffer because fewer flowers mean less nectar

Grasshoppers may eat grass but they still suffer when too much of it takes over their environments, because they like to lay their eggs in the bare ground so they can be exposed to the sunlight and grow.

Cirl buntings are hindered because they eat grasshoppers, which are in decline

Capercaillie and black grouse suffer because their chicks get trapped in the cold, dense, wet heather

Caterpillars suffer because the increase in plants makes the ground colder

Reptiles such as lizards and snakes are hurt by the loss of the bare ground they need to bask in

Butterflies such as the Large Blue and Silver spotted Skipper suffer because they need large, bare habitats to survive

Insects such as beetles and ants, which require warm chalky or sandy ground on which to nest, suffer from dense vegetation

via UK smog: Nitrogen doesn’t just cause air pollution – it is a huge threat to Britain’s wildlife too, experts warn – Home News – UK – The Independent.

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Emissions from diesel can damage children’s brains and increase the risk of autism and schizophrenia, scientists warn

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

An environmental report has blasted diesel cars – despite earlier government efforts to encourage drivers to switch from petrol to diesel.

Separate research has also revealed that diesel fumes could cause children to develop autism and schizophrenia.

Nitrogen dioxide, a chemical present in diesel emissions, causes eye, nose and throat irritation and is said to cause breathing problems in young children.

But scientists have warned that as well as damaging the lungs, the fumes could cause autism and schizophrenia to develop within children living near busy roads.

Long-term exposure to the fumes changes the way that a child’s brain develops, it has been revealed.

The danger of the fumes has been compared to the effect of lead in petrol.

In 1999, lead in petrol was banned after scientists revealed that lead additives caused brain damage in children.

The concerns over the fumes have been raised in a report by the World Health Organisation.

Dr Ian Mudway, a researcher in respiratory toxicology at King’s College, and a co-author of the report told The Sunday Times that there is ‘strong evidence’ that diesel pollutants have an effect on cognitive function in children.

Dr Mudway said the organisation planned to carry out more research on the theme in London because the original study was conducted in California where diesel vehicle use is significantly lower.

The study, from California, reported last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at 525 children, 279 of the children had autism.

And the number of diesel cars is on the up – half of the news cars registered in 2012 used diesel.

This is the third time that scientists have recommended a move from diesel to petrol. The two prevoous warnings were both archived by DEFRA.

A government spokesman said that there was no ‘single magic bullet’ to tackle air pollution and one form of transport could not be linked to pollution levels.

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Smoggy Sand: How Deserts Spread Air Pollution

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

LondonSand can blow a long way—as residents in suddenly smoggy London are learning

For the last few days, the skyline of London—so often an indifferent gray—has resembled Los Angeles in the 1960s, or Beijing. A nasty bout of smog has gripped Britain’s capital and much of England, with pollution levels so high that people with health problems and the elderly have been warned to avoid strenuous activity outside.

London’s current smog is nothing compared to the air pollution the city once suffered—the city was choked in coal smoke for much of the 19th century, and the Great Smog of 1952 killed some 4,000 people. But what’s truly unusual is the cause: not just local emissions from cars and power plants, but from dust that has blown in from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa, over 2,000 miles (3,218 km) away. The dust has blown in on northern winds, where it mixes in the air with local pollutants. The dust is brought down to earth by rain, and when that water evaporates, it leaves behind a layer of visible dust.

Britain isn’t the only place that can have dust-related smog. In East Asia, sand from the Gobi Desert is blown east every spring. The so-called Asian Dust passes over parts of China, North and South Korea and Japan, sometimes so heavy that residents can feel the dust in their eyes and their teeth. The dust can even be carried thousands of miles across the Pacific to North America—a study published in Science last year found that dust in the atmosphere can actually increase rainfall in California.

But what’s worrying is that the Gobi is growing every year, as excessive farming in China and increasingly dry weather converts grassland into desert. The Chinese government has tried to create what it calls a “Green Belt” of millions of trees that it hopes will hold back the spread of desertification, but so far, many of them have died. And climate change seems likely to increase the rate of desertification, as the Gobi gets even hotter and drier. In a changing world, not even deserts can be trusted to stay in the same place—as London is learning.

via Smoggy Sand: How Deserts Spread Air Pollution | TIME.com.

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