Officials move to address air pollution

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

The official website of Slavonski Brod, a city in eastern Croatia, last month issued a dire warning for people to stay in their homes because of the polluted air. Harmful gases from the Bosanski Brod oil refinery in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were reportedly eight times higher than allowed by law.

Slavonski Brod Mayor Mirko Duspara said pollution is an ongoing problem in his community.

“Pollution is extremely high and it has been going on for years,” Duspara told SETimes. “We urged our government to contact people from BiH and to do something about it, but without success. Poisons that come from refinery are usually sulfur hydrogen and benzene.”

Slavonski Brod residents are not alone. Almost all the countries of the former Yugoslavia have environmental “black spots” that are polluting the air and the lives of people near them.

Some officials are now taking steps to reduce pollution and improve the quality of the air.

via Officials move to address air pollution (SETimes.com).

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Maricopa County: Monday is ‘No burn day’

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

The Maricopa County Air Quality Department issued a “No burn day” for Monday, which restricts wood burning in fireplaces and other devices, because of the likelihood of high air pollution.

Maricopa’s air quality department will send inspectors to businesses and residences to enforce the temporary ban.

Wood burning creates unhealthy air conditions. Winds expected north of the Valley may circulate the smoke from wood burning, says the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, which issued a high pollution advisory for Monday.

via County: Monday is ‘No burn day’.

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Air Pollution Becomes a Major Global Killer

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

The economic growth that many nations in Asia and increasingly Africa have experienced over the past couple of decades has transformed hundreds of millions of lives — almost entirely for the better. But there’s a byproduct to that growth, one that’s visible — or sometimes less than visible — in the smoggy, smelly skies above cities like Beijing, New Delhi and Jakarta. Thanks to new cars and power plants, air pollution is bad and getting worse in much of the world, and it’s taking a major toll on global health.

How big? According to a new analysis published in the Lancet, more than 3.2 million people suffered premature deaths from air pollution in 2010, the largest number on record. That’s up from 800,000 in 2000. And it’s a regional problem: 65% of those deaths occurred in Asia, where the air is choked by diesel soot from cars and trucks, as well as the smog from power plants and the dust from endless urban construction. In East Asia and China, 1.2 million people died, as well as another 712,000 in South Asia, including India. For the first time ever, air pollution is on the world’s top-10 list of killers, and it’s moving up the ranks faster than any other factor.

via Air Pollution Becomes a Major Global Killer | TIME.com.

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Portable Monitor Sends Tailored Air Pollution Updates To Phones

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

Developed by computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, CitiSense may soon allow you to receive real-time air pollution data for your location on your smart phone.

CitiSense is a portable, box-like sensor that can be deployed to provide local air quality information to everyone within range of the sensor, not just those carrying it. The device provides feedback on things like ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide levels – the most common pollutants present in vehicle exhaust.

The project aims to make the ‘invisible visible,’ and hopefully everyone a little safer from pollution.

via Portable Monitor Sends Tailored Air Pollution Updates To Phones – PSFK – PSFK.

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How air pollution impacts worker productivity

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

Of course, air pollution has negative impacts on human health, but does it also lead to an unproductive workforce? It seems that way:

Researchers found that a 10 ppb parts per billion change in average ozone exposure results in a significant 5.5 percent change in agricultural worker productivity. “These estimates are particularly noteworthy as the U.S. EPA is currently moving in the direction of reducing federal ground-level ozone standards,” said Dr. [Matthew] Neidell, PhD. This past September President Obama said he would not support a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten the federal ozone standard because it would pose too heavy a burden on businesses…

via How air pollution impacts worker productivity | SmartPlanet.

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Greece: Air pollution soars as households turn to wood for heat

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

This year the Greek government decided to equalize the price of central heating oil and diesel by drastically raising taxes. A direct consequence of this policy is rising air pollution, as households turn to wood as their heat source.

In spite of its reputation as a sun kissed nation, Greece suffers from cold winters. Northern Greece even has ski resorts. Badly insulated homes can make temperatures indoors colder than outside.

Due to the prohibitive cost of central heating oil, Greek households have turned to wood burning stoves and fireplaces as their primary form of heat. This has resulted in a stark rise in air pollution, notably in the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki. According to Proto Thema smog has clouded the cities, with air pollution measuring three times more than normal.

via Greece: Air pollution soars as households turn to wood for heat.

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PM2.5 air pollutants causing more deaths than estimated, study says

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

The health risks of microscopic air pollutants have been grossly underestimated on the mainland, with nearly 8,600 premature deaths expected this year in four major cities, a study has revealed.

And premature deaths are “just a tiny fraction” of the adverse health impacts of tiny airborne particles, less than 2.5 microns in diameter, known as fine particle matter 2.5 (PM2.5).

The startling findings were included in a report by Greenpeace East Asia and Peking University’s school of public health which, for the first time, focused on PM2.5 health hazards in urban areas.

Environmentalists have hailed the study, released yesterday, as ground-breaking, with data linking poor air quality to deadly diseases.

Noting that the World Bank once put the number of premature deaths on the mainland as a result of air pollution at more than 200,000, Professor Pan Xiaochuan, of Peking University, said the study focused on a single pollutant and had not taken into account the long-term health impact of PM2.5, which could be far more dangerous.

The study’s estimation of combined economic losses caused by premature deaths, put at 6.8 billion yuan (HK$8.34 billion), was also likely to be far lower than the real figure owing to limited access to official statistics, he added.

Fine particles have long been known to pose greater health risks than more than a dozen other air pollutants. They damage lung tissue and the cardiovascular system, cause lung cancer and other deadly diseases, and lead to a higher mortality rate.

Based on official mortality figures in 2010 and limited PM2.5 monitoring data in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xian, mostly from environment-related research institutes, the study showed a more than 10 per cent rise in premature deaths caused by PM2.5 pollution in the four cities over the past two years.

via PM2.5 air pollutants causing more deaths than estimated, study says | South China Morning Post.

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Pollution from car emissions killing millions in China and India

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Respro® UK Ltd

An explosion of car use has made fast-growing Asian cities the epicentre of global air pollution and become, along with obesity, the world’s fastest growing cause of death according to a major study of global diseases.

In 2010, more than 2.1m people in Asia died prematurely from air pollution, mostly from the minute particles of diesel soot and gasses emitted from cars and lorries. Other causes of air pollution include construction and industry. Of these deaths, says the study published in The Lancet, 1.2 million were in east Asia and China, and 712,000 in south Asia, including India.

Worldwide, a record 3.2m people a year died from air pollution in 2010, compared with 800,000 in 2000. It now ranks for the first time in the world’s top 10 list of killer diseases, says the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.

The unexpected figure has shocked scientists and public health groups. David Pettit, director of the southern California air programme with the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), said: “That’s a terribly high number – and much more people than previously thought. Earlier studies were limited to data that was available at the time on coarse particles in urban areas only.”

Anumita Roychowdhury, head of air pollution at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based environmental group, said: “There is hard evidence now to act urgently to reduce the public health risks to all, particularly children, elderly and the poor. No-one can escape toxic air.”

The full effects of air pollution on health in Asian cities may not be seen for years, she said. “Toxic effects like cancer surface after a long latency period. Therefore, exposure to air pollution will have to be reduced today to reduce the burden of disease,” she said.

via Pollution from car emissions killing millions in China and India | Environment | guardian.co.uk.

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