Upper Holloway school makes shocking air pollution discovery

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Islington youngsters have discovered that air pollution outside their school is more than double the limit set by the European Union.

Pupils from St John’s Upper Holloway Church of England Primary School found streets in the area regularly had nitrogen dioxide levels that were twice the EU limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre.

The youngsters made the discovery while taking part in a project by the London Sustainability Exchange which looks at air pollution and ways of cutting it.

The project, Cleaner Air 4 Schools, allows pupils to measure air pollution by using diffusion tubes and wipes taken from the school’s windows.

Brian Welsh, head teacher of St John’s, said: “We initially became interested in the project as a result of us looking into energy saving measures.

“Islington Council had come in to talk about a range of activities we could undertake. The Cleaner Air 4 Schools project was an opportunity to involve pupils and the wider school community.

“Pupils enjoyed the practical aspects of the project carrying out tests and making observations to measure levels of pollution.

“The support of the local authority has also been extremely valuable in ensuring there are real benefits to taking part.”

The school, in Pemberton Gardens, is within 150 metres of main roads which carry more than 100,000 vehicles a day.

Experts estimate that around 10 per cent of all car journeys are related to education so Cleaner Air 4 Schools has been working with parents and schools finding ways to cut down on unnecessary road trips.

Across London around 4,000 people each year die prematurely from air pollution-related causes – with children particularly at risk due to their smaller lung capacity.

Cllr Rakhia Ismail, Islington Council member for sustainability, said: “Children are at greater risk from the effects of air pollution compared to healthy adults, that’s why it is crucial we work with schools to understand air pollution and try to change behaviour – for example, around the school run – so schools are part of the solution.”

London Sustainability Exchange is planning to work with other schools in the borough in 2014 while Islington Council has joined with Camden to hold a summit on pollution.

The 2nd Air Quality Summit on October 17 from 5.30pm to 8.30pm at Islington Town Hall and residents and businesses are encouraged to come along and let their voices be heard.

To book a place or find out more information email pollution@islington.gov.uk or call 020 7527 3048.

via Upper Holloway school makes shocking air pollution discovery – News – Islington Gazette.

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We’ve Just Launched Our Brand Spanking New Site

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Lift Off

To the moon and back…

We’ve just launched our brand spanking new site. Take a look…

respro.com

We are very excited to have finally launched our new website.

With a new look, tons of new features, improved functionality and navigation, the new site will make your online experience faster and easier. Oh, and more fun too.

One of the many new features to help you find the right product is our mask selector. If you are unsure which mask is right for your requirements, give the mask selector a go. It will help you to quickly find your ideal mask.

’nuff said. Now it’s time for you to take a gander around the new site, and find out for yourself. We’ve had a lot of fun developing the new site, hope you’re enjoying the experience!

Team Respro®

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Chinese Cooking to Blame for Beijing Air Pollution

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

A Beijing official has said Chinese cooking is to blame for the city’s air pollution problem.

China’s Xinhua news agency reports that Zhao Huimin, director with the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, said the capital’s pollution was, in part, caused by people cooking during a TV interview.

He said the government plans to launch eight measures to curb pollution and improve air quality ahead of next year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Zhao said the measures include shutting down factories and restrictions on the public.

Beijing currently has a high atmospheric particulate matter level, meaning a high percentage of particles in the area are smaller than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5), which can affect lungs and other organs.

Its current Air Quality score is 274, which is categorised as “very unhealthy”.

Zhao told Dragon TV: “Chinese cooking habits also contributed to PM2.5 density. We hope citizens cooperate with us to clean the air.”

A recent study published in the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science and Technology said 80% of the soot found in East Asia’s atmosphere came from traffic and cooking with fossil fuels such as coal briquettes on home cooking stoves.

However Zhao’s comments received a backlash from the public, with many venting their frustration online. Some asked if Zhao was suggesting Chinese cooking would be banned during the Apec summit, while others mocked the official for the impractical suggestion.

Users asked if a lottery system would be set up, as it was for car use during the 2008 Olympic Games, when families were only allowed to cook on odd or even-numbered days.

His comments come as Beijing reopens its airports and roads after heavy smog led to closures across the city.

In some parts of the city, visibility dropped to less than 500m last weekend. The smog hit during one of the peak times for travel in China – the holiday known as Golden Week, where hundreds of millions of people go away for a break.

via Chinese Cooking to Blame for Beijing Air Pollution – IBTimes UK.

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Air quality masterplan to battle pollution in Abu Dhabi

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

An air-quality strategy being prepared by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi could for the first time include pollution limits for industries in the capital.

The move aims to limit pollutants such as ozone and particulates that contribute to a range of health problems.

Experts from the agency, or Ead, are reviewing the current guidelines on ambient air quality, which determines the overall concentration of pollutants in the air.

They are also discussing standards for specific industries, limiting the amount of pollutants they are allowed to discharge.

Darryl Lew, the agency’s executive director of environmental quality, said technical work on the project was expected to finish by the end of the year.

“Ead by December 31 is working out new standards for industry-specific emissions with the view that we will consider imposing these on the permit conditions,” said Mr Lew.

After the expert analysis, the agency will advise the Government on suggested changes.

The strategy will need to be reviewed by parties with interests and the Ministry of Environment and Water, before approval by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

The process is expected to take at least until the end of next year.

“What we are doing at the moment is going through a screening process because obviously we cannot do every single industry at once,” Mr Lew said.

Ground-level ozone, or smog, is formed when compounds released by machines react with other substances in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight.

Particulate matter refers to tiny particles of sand, dust or chemicals that are able to penetrate deep into people’s lungs.

Both are public health risks and have been connected to a variety of complaints, including asthma and bronchitis.

For a number of years the agency has been monitoring concentrations of particles no bigger than the thickness of a human hair, at a size of 10 micrometres, known as PM10.

It is also monitoring concentrations of even smaller particles, known as PM2.5, which experts say are especially harmful because of their ability to penetrate the lungs.

“PM10, PM2.5 and ozone are certainly our problematic pollutants,” said Mr Lew.

A significant chunk of particulate pollution in the UAE is down to natural causes, given the desert surrounds.

Any time PM concentrations exceed healthy limits, between 60 and 70 per cent of the PM10 is due to natural phenomena, Mr Lew said.

But between 30 and 40 per cent is caused by “anthropogenic” factors, or human activities such as transport and industry.

“As the emirate develops and goes into its 2030 economic vision, and the industrial sector and the oil and gas sector increase, then the anthropogenic proportion will increase,” said Mr Lew.

“This is where Ead is very focused on making sure that we have the right standards and conditions in place to ensure that the industrial emissions are being controlled as much as possible.”

As part of the new strategy, the agency will also review the ambient air standards, which look at concentrations of pollutants in the ambient air for ozone and PM10.

The two pollutants are among seven types of harmful substances the agency monitors.

For the first time, experts will devise an ambient air quality standard for PM2.5. The review will compare UAE standards with those outlined by other countries and the World Health Organisation.

The announcement was made as the agency doubled the number of monitoring stations across the emirate to 20.

Mr Lew said the network was an important step in evaluating air quality and helping to determine new standards.

“We cannot do any of this work without this data,” he said.

Ead is working with the Health Authority Abu Dhabi to alert pharmacies and people with respiratory disease of high pollution levels from next year.

via Air quality masterplan to battle pollution in Abu Dhabi | The National.

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Blame your vehicle for air pollution

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

The city is worsening on the pollution front with the level of carbon monoxide in the air gradually rising. Poorly maintained vehicles are the prime source of the toxic gas in the city, a survey said. As the pollution level rises, predictably, the health issues related to it is also increasing.

“The level of carbon monoxide should be 3.5 (PPM) parts per million in the air as prescribed by the central pollution control board (CPCB). It is caused by the incomplete combustion of fuel in vehicle. In our survey last month, we found reduction in carbon monoxide by 21% on our campus when all the vehicles were restricted from entering our campus,” said C Ravichandran, associate professor of Department of Environmental Sciences. “If the level exceeds the limit, it will be harmful to people as carbon monoxide combines with haemoglobin to form carboxyhaemoglobin, which lowers the capacity of haemoglobin to carry the oxygens. This, in turn, leads to several health complications,” he added.

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Trichy, has been checking the levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide in the air through its four ‘ambient air quality stations’ at five places. These are at Gandhi Market, Main guard gate, Bishop Heber college, Golden Rock and Central bus stand. The five stations are classified as commercial, traffic, sensitive, residential and traffic zones respectively. District environmental engineer R Lakshmi, however, said the current levels are not alarming. “The level of carbon dioxide may be little higher than the prescribed limit. But it does not sound any alarm. The improper maintenance of the vehicle and the adulteration in the fuel would lead to emission of carbon monoxide. People should realize that they are polluting the atmosphere due to inadequate maintenance of their vehicles. If the combustion of the fuel is proper in the vehicle, it would not emit the carbon monoxide. Hence, the vehicles should be maintained periodically,” Lakshmi said.

Going by the statistics of Regional Transport Office of Trichy-East, Trichy-West and Srirangam in Trichy, there are about 3,28,000 two-wheelers and 93,500 four-wheelers, excluding 10,000 public transport vehicles in the city limit. But it is evident that many of the private vehicles, state-run city buses and auto-rickshaws emit black smoke which is primarily carbon dioxide. “Besides carbon dioxide, there are possibilities of emission of carbon monoxide with the smoke. We are imposing fine on vehicles who fail to carry emission certificate. Nevertheless, there are many people failing to properly maintain their vehicles, thereby endangering the atmosphere,” said A Pandian.

via Blame your vehicle for air pollution – The Times of India.

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Air pollution increases heart attacks

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution increases heart attacks, according to research presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 by Dr Savina Nodari from Brescia, Italy. The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 is the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). It takes place 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain.

Dr Nodari said: “In the last few decades there has been a worrying increase in air pollution. Regardless of local environmental and social policies to approve air quality, the negative effect of air pollution continues to be an important public health problem.”

She added: “Some studies conducted in Europe and the US have reported an association between air pollution, especially fine and ultrafine particles which are measured as particulate matter (PM) 10, and not only respiratory disease but also acute cardiovascular events and deaths. The European Union has set a PM10 safety threshold of 50 micrograms/m3 but the negative effect of PM10 on the cardiovascular system may occur at levels lower than this cut off.”1

The current study set out to confirm the association between levels of PM10, which is a marker of general air pollution, and the risk of acute cardiovascular events. It also examined individual susceptibility to cardiovascular events during high PM10 levels. Data was collected on daily hospitalisations for cardiac events (acute coronary syndrome, acute heart failure, malignant ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation) and average daily concentrations of PM10 in Brescia during 2004 to 2007.

The study found a significant association between PM10 levels and admission for acute cardiovascular events such as acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, worsening heart failure, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias. The effect was linear, with a 3% increase in admissions for every 10 microgram increase in PM10.

Dr Nodari said: “Brescia is one of the most industrialised areas in the North of Italy and according to the European Environmental Agency it has average daily PM10 levels higher than the safety threshold of 50 micrograms/m3. This high level of air pollution is clearly having a bad effect on heart health.”

The researchers also found that older people (>65 years) and men were particularly susceptible to having arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation or acute coronary syndromes at increasing levels of air pollution. Dr Nodari said: “This may be related to a higher prevalence of comorbidities and greater fragility of the cardiovascular and circulatory system associated with aging.”

Another finding was that cardiovascular hospitalisation during a higher level of PM10 occurred more often in patients who had previously been hospitalised for a cardiovascular event. Dr Nodari said: “We need to pay particular attention to protecting patients who are older and who have had a previous heart attack or other heart problem, as they are more vulnerable to having another cardiac event.”

She added: “Previous studies support the hypothesis that air pollution may increase cardiovascular event rates because PM10 can induce processes that are bad for the heart including inflammation and coagulation.”

Dr Nodari continued: “Air pollution is a big problem because we can’t protect people if we are unable to improve the air quality where they live. To protect public health, national policies need to consider other sources of energy for cars, industry and domestic use which may include electricity, wind energy, photovoltaic systems or nuclear energy. Many people think nuclear energy is not a good alternative and I agree, but we have such high levels of air pollution now that we have to seriously look at the alternative options.”

She concluded: “The current PM10 threshold of 50 micrograms/m3 is too high because at this level we observed an increase in hospitalisations for heart diseases. The cut off should be reduced to 20 — 30 micrograms/m3, or even less if possible, because like cholesterol the risk is continuous — the higher the levels the greater the risk. If we can obtain a lower level of PM10 probably we will lower the risk of heart disease.”

via Air pollution increases heart attacks.

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Air pollution and psychological distress during pregnancy

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Maternal psychological distress combined with exposure to air pollution during pregnancy have an adverse impact on the child’s behavioral development, according to researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health.

The study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics, reports that maternal demoralization, a measure of psychological distress capable of affecting a mother’s ability to cope with stressful situations, was linked with a number of behavioral problems, including anxiety, depression, attention problems, rule-breaking, externalizing problems, and aggressive behavior. The effects of demoralization were greatest among children with higher levels of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAH in air pollution.

“This study shows that the combination of physical and psychosocial stressors during fetal development magnifies the effect of each exposure,” says lead author Frederica Perera, DrPH, PhD, director of the Center. “The findings are of concern because attention problems and anxiety and depression have been shown to affect peer relationships, academic performance, and future well- being of children.”

The paper is the first to assess the interaction between PAH, combustion-related pollutants measured in air the mother breathed during pregnancy, and maternal demoralization on a variety of behavioral problems in childhood.

PAH are air pollutants generated by combustion sources such as motor vehicles, coal-fired power plants, residential heating and tobacco smoke. In Krakow, Poland, where the study took place, as in many areas worldwide, coal burning is an important air pollution source. Although Krakow has relatively high ambient concentrations of PAH from coal-burning and vehicle emissions, levels are within the range seen in many other urban areas worldwide. “Air pollution exposure is ubiquitous and often co-occurs with socioeconomic disadvantage and maternal psychological distress,” notes Dr. Perera.

Researchers, led by Dr. Perera and Wieslaw Jedrychowski, MD, PhD, from the University of Krakow, followed 248 mother-child pairs from pregnancy through 9 years of age. Personal air sampling was completed during pregnancy to estimate prenatal PAH exposure. Behavioral problems were assessed using the Child Behavioral Checklist, a set of questions to which mothers responded about their child’s behavior. Maternal demoralization has been correlated with socioeconomic factors such as material hardship. Levels of maternal demoralization were ascertained by a questionnaire during the second trimester.

Relationships between prenatal air pollution and behavioral or cognitive problems in childhood have previously been observed in the Center’s Mothers & Newborns study in New York City and in the Polish cohort. This new study builds upon prior findings to examine the joint impact of maternal psychological distress and air pollution on behavioral problems.

Understanding the interactions between the social and physical environment will help to explain health disparities and create interventions to prevent health and developmental problems in children. Notes Dr. Perera, “The findings support policy interventions to reduce air pollution exposure in urban areas as well as programs to screen women early in pregnancy to identify those in need of psychological or material support.”

via Air pollution and psychological distress during pregnancy.

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London air pollution ‘dangerously high’

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution from traffic and industry is dangerously high in east London, according to tests by local “citizen scientists”.

Local environment groups placed 36 diffusion monitoring tubes on structures close to parks, bus stops, busy roads and in residential areas, to measure emissions in more than 30 streets. They were left for four weeks and only four were removed or stolen.Analysis by a laboratory used by government found that concentrations of the toxic exhaust pipe gas nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exceeded EU levels by over 50 per cent in some areas, and was over the safety limit in 15 out of 32 places tested.

The results are alarming, say the groups, because colourless, odourless NO2 pollution is cumulative and the 15 sites surpassed the annual safety limit after only four weeks.

The experiment suggests that official testing of roadside air pollution is limited and insufficient. Many of the tubes measured emissions in streets that are never monitored, and those placed near official monitors mostly recorded levels above those published by government.

Air pollution from traffic in east London is considered by health experts to be some of the worst in Britain, mostly affecting the old and young and linked to respiratory and heart diseases. It is estimated that air pollution kills over 4,000 people in the city each year.

The Green party assembly member Darren Johnson said on Friday that London’s air pollution was an “absolute crisis.”

Environment groups expect air pollution to deteriorate further in east London if two major infrastructure developments are permitted. City airport has submitted plans which could allow it to add 50,000 more flights a year. The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, also wants a new Thames road crossing that could massively increase traffic.

“Our sampling showed that in key public locations readings are breaching EU guidelines. We are being asked to believe that the massive expansion of London city airport will have only a negligible impact on air quality. This shows it is simply not the case,” said Alan Haughton of Stop City Airport.

via London air pollution ‘dangerously high’ – DAWN.COM.

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