Memory is damaged by air pollution, researchers find

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

New research from the University of Warwick shows that human memory is significantly worse in parts of England with high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and air particulates (PM10). The difference in memory quality between England’s cleanest and most-polluted areas is equivalent to the loss of memory from 10 extra years of aging.

This is consistent with prior smaller-scale laboratory research on rats and other animals. But the new work, by Nattavudh Powdthavee, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, and Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science, is some of the first to confirm the same in humans.

The researchers examined 34,000 English citizens randomly sampled from across England’s local-authority districts. Everyone in the study was asked to remember 10 words in a standardized word-recall test. The analysis adjusted for a large number of other influences on the quality of people’s memory—including people’s age, health, level of education, ethnicity, and family and employment status. The report, revealing a strong link between air pollution and impaired memory, is to be published in the journal Ecological Economics.

Memory slowly worsens as people grow older. The authors estimate that the difference in memory quality between England’s cleanest and most-polluted areas is equivalent to the loss of memory from 10 extra years of aging. The most polluted air in England is in places like Kensington and Islington. The cleanest is on the west coastline in districts like Devon and West Somerset.

“There is a little prior evidence of a negative association between levels of traffic pollution and memory using data on elderly individuals and in children,” said Professor Powdthavee, “but almost all research in human studies on this topic has been based on elementary correlations and not on nationally representative samples of individuals in a country. We have tried to solve these two problems in our study.”

Professor Andrew Oswald said “When it comes to remembering a string of words, a 50 year old in polluted Chelsea performs like a 60 year old in Plymouth. We are still not exactly sure how nitrogen dioxide and air particulates act to do this.”

Using a nationally representative sample in the UK Household Longitudinal Study—the Understanding Society—the researchers have been able to study the link between data on a standardized word-recall test that was done in the year 2011 by 34,000 randomly sampled English citizens with data on NO2 and PM10 across 318 geographical areas. By exploiting regional variations in the direction of prevailing westerly wind and population density as predictors of air pollution but not memory, they were also able to correct for the potential selection effect that might arise from people with impaired memory choosing to live in more polluted areas.

via Memory is damaged by air pollution, researchers find

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Sources of Air Pollution in Europe

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd
Air pollutants are emitted from a range of both man-made and natural sources including:
  • burning of fossil fuels in electricity generation, transport, industry and households;
  • industrial processes and solvent use, for example in the chemical and mining industries;
  • agriculture;
  • waste treatment;
  • natural sources, including volcanic eruptions, windblown dust, sea-salt spray and emissions of volatile organic compounds from plants.

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via eea.europa.eu/themes/air/air-pollution-sources

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Little progress made in tackling air pollution in Europe, research says

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

European Environment Agency found levels of fine particulate matter stalled after decades of reductions

Little progress has been made on tackling air quality in Europe, new research shows, despite public outcry in many countries and increasing awareness of the health impacts of pollution.

Levels of the dangerous fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which can lodge deep in the lungs and pass into the bloodstream, appear to have reached a plateau across Europe, after more than a decade of gradual reductions. The results come from the European Environment Agency’s Air Quality in Europe 2019 report, published on Wednesday, which collates data taken from thousands of monitoring stations in 2017.

“We do not see any big improvement, or worsening, year on year,” said Alberto Gonzalez Ortiz, air quality expert at the EEA, Europe’s environmental watchdog. “It is PM2.5 that we should worry most about, and it is coming from domestic heating [such as wood-burning stoves], industry and transport.”

In 2016, the latest year for which an accurate count can be made, there were about 412,000 deaths in Europe from PM2.5 alone, according to the EEA. From 2014 to 2017, the levels of fine particulate matter remained broadly flat, after long-term reductions in levels of the pollutant stretching back to 2000.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels have fallen further, but remain a serious problem. Nitrogen dioxide is an irritant gas, emitted from diesel vehicles in particular. In 2017, according to the report, about 10% of monitoring stations in Europe showed levels above safety limits. In the UK, the monitoring station at Marylebone Road continued to record the highest level of nitrogen dioxide pollution in western Europe, despite falls in the overall concentrations of the gas.

Jenny Bates, air pollution campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “People across the UK are paying a heavy price for the government’s continuing failure to clean up the nation’s filthy air, with tens of thousands of premature deaths every year. While half of our European neighbours manage to comply with legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution, 36 out of 43 UK air quality zones continue to suffer unlawful levels. And we’re also failing World Health Organization standards for the most deadly fine particle air pollution [PM2.5] in places across the country.”

The government has pledged to bring forward air quality commitments in new legislation announced in the Queen’s speech on Monday. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said more recent data than that included in the EEA report showed “positive progress”, including one fewer road showing breaches in safe levels of NO2 in 2018 compared with 2017.

“We are working hard to reduce transport emissions and are already investing £3.5bn to clean up our air, while our Clean Air Strategy has been praised by the WHO as an ‘example for the rest of the world to follow’,” the spokesperson said. “Our environment bill will drive further improvements, increasing local powers to address key sources of air pollution and introducing a duty to set a legally-binding target to reduce fine particulate matter.”

Campaigners urged ministers to include legally binding targets based on WHO standards, with a duty on public bodies to take action to meet the targets, and a right to clean air enshrined in law.

Greg Archer, UK director at the NGO Transport & Environment, said the bill must be strengthened: “The proposed environment bill will create an undernourished, toothless watchdog. Without ambitious targets and actions to tackle air pollution, people will continue to die unnecessarily.”

He added: “Ministers must also scrap their multi-billion pound road-building programme, and invest in cleaner alternatives such as better public transport, cycling and walking facilities. This will not only allow people to breath more easily, it will also help address the climate emergency.”

Levels of ammonia are also on the rise, driven by farming. Ammonia can combine with other pollutants in the air to harm human health, and is also damaging to plants and wildlife. The Guardian revealed earlier this year that 3,000 deaths a year could be avoided in the UK by halving ammonia emissions from farms.

via Little progress made in tackling air pollution in Europe, research says | Environment | The Guardian

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Air pollution linked to ‘missed’ miscarriages in China: study

Posted on October 15, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Exposure to airborne pollutants increases the risk of “missed” miscarriages in which a fetus dies without a pregnant woman experiencing any noticeable symptoms, researchers said Monday.

Previous studies have shown a correlation between air pollution and pregnancy complications, but the new research—published in Nature Sustainability journal by a team of researchers from Chinese universities—sheds light on a little-studied impact of pollution.

The study found that exposure to higher concentrations of airborne particulate matter, as well as sulfur dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide, was associated with a higher risk of missed miscarriage in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Additionally, “the risk increase is not linear but becomes more severe the higher the pollutant concentration”, the study said.

Missed miscarriages occur when a fetus dies or stops growing in early pregnancy while remaining in the uterus, and are often detected during routine ultrasound tests weeks later.

Researchers from four universities as well as the Chinese Academy of Sciences tracked the pregnancies of over 250,000 women in Beijing from 2009 to 2017, including 17,497 who experienced missed miscarriages.

Researchers used measurements from air monitoring stations near the women’s homes and workplaces to gauge subjects’ exposure to pollution.

“China is an aging society and our study provides an additional motivation for the country to reduce ambient air pollution for the sake of enhancing the birth rate,” the paper’s authors said.

While the study showed a quantitative link between pollution and missed miscarriages, confirming a causal link would require ethically fraught lab experimentation on human embryos, said Shaun Brennecke, a professor at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, who was not involved in the study.

Short of that, the authors of the paper “had the advantage of basing the study in Beijing, which had over the course of the study a wide range of pollution levels, and where levels decreased over time”, Brennecke told AFP.

The authors of the study did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Air pollution levels in China’s capital have fallen significantly in recent years, even as pollution readings differ dramatically from day to day and across parts of the city.

But Beijing’s current levels of PM2.5—tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs—are still four times higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.

The city’s average hourly PM2.5 reading was 42.6 micrograms per cubic metre of air in the first eight months of 2019, according to Swiss air purification technology company IQAir’s research arm AirVisual.

The study’s findings are “consistent with other studies of air pollution and pregnancy loss, and also with other studies documenting significant associations between air pollutants and preterm birth”, Frederica Perera, a professor of public health at Columbia University who was not involved in the study, told AFP.

via Air pollution linked to ‘missed’ miscarriages in China: study

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A very smokey capital

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Poor air quality has always been a major problem for people in Delhi. It has been one of the main causes behind many health issues such as breathing problems, skin allergies and so on. Even though Delhiites could breathe easy in the last few months, the air quality index has again plummeted to new lows in the past three days. The national capital witnessed the air quality index shoot up to 256, from 222 on Saturday and 208 on Friday. Delhi residents have once again started to feel the suffocation.

While mask-clad city residents can be spotted everywhere, wearing a mask all the time is not a concrete solution to the constant rate of fall in the quality of air.  Abha Bisht, a 22-years-old Delhiite shares, “I travel on a daily basis from home to office and while doing that I encounter a lot of pollution. I am not able to step out if I do not have a mask.” She then adds that even after wearing a mask, she often suffers from itchiness in her eyes at the end of the day.

Abhinandan Sen, another Delhiite feels that despite the government taking steps like banning plastic and traffic rules, the air quality/pollution continues to remain a challenge. He says, “The air pollution is so bad that it often gives me a feeling of dizziness and headaches. I would seldom have breathing troubles since my college is in Bhubaneswar. But, I can feel the difference in the air quality as soon as I land here.” Sen then adds that the Government’s new plans to control the pollution might be useful and hopes people abide by the rules and measures this Diwali.

But, the steps taken until now have clearly had no long term effects. “It’s a severe issue considering most Delhiites have gotten respiratory diseases from the bad quality air over the past years. It is shocking to see that over the past years, the air quality has seen a notable deterioration, and despite the government making a number of recommendations to combat the problem, we still see that there is no major change as such,” says Riya Gupta, a college student.

Winter is the time when people usually get to experience the city’s beauty, spared by the scorching sun. Nandini Agarwal, a college student, laments, “It’s honestly not a nice experience to go out during the day anymore because of how much the weather is affected by the pollutants in the air and it has really interfered with our lifestyles.”

via A very smokey capital

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Air pollution can turn men bald by destroying a hair growth protein, scientists say

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution on busy roads has been linked to baldness in men as particles in exhaust fumes destroy a hair growth protein, scientists have found.

Particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere could impact both hair growth and retention, according to new research by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV).

Scientists exposed cells from the human scalp at the base of hair follicles, known as human follicle dermal papilla cells, to various concentrations of fine dust and diesel particulate extract.

Twenty-four hours later they tested the samples to detect specific levels of proteins in the cells. The researchers found that the presence of dust and diesel particulate decreased levels of the protein responsible for hair growth – beta-catenin – and morphogenesis.

According to the study, the levels of three other proteins – cyclin D1, cyclin E and CDK2 – which are responsible for hair growth and hair retention, were also decreased by PM10-like dust and diesel particulate depending on the dose.

This meant that the greater the level of pollutant, the greater the decrease in proteins was found.

Lead researcher Hyuk Chul Kwon, from the Future Science Research Centre in South Korea, said: “While the link between air pollution and serious diseases such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are well established, there is little to no research on the effect of particulate matter exposure on the human skin, and hair in particular.

“Our research explains the mode of action of air pollutants on human follicle dermal papilla cells, showing how the most common air pollutants lead to hair loss.”

Particulate matter is the term used to describe a mixture of solid particles and droplets found in the air.

It is split into two categories – PM10 which are particles with a diameter of 10 micrometres or smaller and PM2.5 which have a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or smaller.

Both are considered major pollutants and are linked to various health conditions, including heart and lung disease, cancer and respiratory problems.

Sources of PM include the burning of fossil fuels, including petrol, diesel and other solid-fuels such as coal, oil and biomass as well as other industrial activities such as building, mining and the manufacturing of building materials like cement, ceramics and bricks.

via Air pollution can turn men bald by destroying a hair growth protein, scientists say | London Evening Standard

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Denmark calls for EU strategy to phase out diesel and petrol cars from 2030

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Denmark, backed by 10 other European Union countries, on Friday called for a strategy to phase out diesel and petrol cars, including allowing the ban of sales at member state-level by 2030 to combat climate change.

Denmark made the proposal came during a meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg.

The 2050 goals are part of Ursula van der Leyen’s plans, the new president of the European Commission, to make Europe the first climate neutral continent by 2050. The Danish delegation argued that to achieve this the transport sector needs to decrease their emissions, which is the only sector that currently are increasing its emissions.

The EU aims to cut carbon emissions in the bloc by 40 percent by 2030 while its executive, the Commission, plans to reduce them to zero by 2050 to help stop global warming.

“We need to acknowledge that we are in a bit of a hurry,” Danish Climate and Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen told Reuters after the meeting.

Denmark made headlines in October 2018 when its government announced that it would ban the sale of all new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2030 but it subsequently scrapped the idea because this would have breached EU rules.

Jorgensen said proposing to allow individual member states to ban sales on new diesel and petrol cars will hopefully put pressure on the Commission to propose a complete phasing out fossil fuel-powered vehicles in the bloc in the coming decades.

Jorgensen also said if the EU could not agree on a union-wide ban, it would be good if at least individual countries were allowed to implement such a measure.

“Plan A would be to make it a European ban,” he said.

Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and several other countries however suggested that more must be done to stop the “carbon leakage” of selling second-hand autos from western Europe to the eastern region.

Jorgensen said it was important to communicate the bloc’s long-term policy directions to carmakers. He said Denmark’s next step was to set up an alliance with the 10 member states that support its strategy to phase out diesel and petrol cars and the possibility to prohibit the sale of them in individual member states.

“Then I think others will follow,” he said.

via Denmark calls for EU strategy to phase out diesel and petrol cars from 2030 – Reuters

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Aspirin may halve air pollution harms

Posted on October 3, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

A new study is the first to report evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin may lessen the adverse effects of air pollution exposure on lung function. The team of researchers from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, Boston University School of Medicine published their findings in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The researchers analyzed a subset of data collected from a cohort of 2,280 male veterans from the greater Boston area who were given tests to determine their lung function. The average age of participants was 73 years. The researchers examined the relationship between test results, self-reported NSAID use, and ambient particulate matter (PM) and black carbon in the month preceding the test, while accounting for a variety of factors, including the health status of the subject and whether or not he was a smoker. They found that the use of any NSAID nearly halved of the effect of PM on lung function, with the association consistent across all four weekly air pollution measurements from same-day to 28 days prior to the lung function test.

Because most of the people in the study cohort who took NSAIDs used aspirin, the researchers say the modifying effect they observed was mainly from aspirin, but add that effects of non-aspirin NSAIDs are worthy of further exploration. While the mechanism is unknown, the researchers speculate that NSAIDs mitigate inflammation brought about by air pollution.

“Our findings suggest that aspirin and other NSAIDs may protect the lungs from short-term spikes in air pollution,” says first and corresponding author Xu Gao, PhD, a post-doctoral research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia Mailman School. “Of course, it is still important to minimize our exposure to air pollution, which is linked to a host of adverse health effects, from cancer to cardiovascular disease.”

“While environmental policies have made considerable progress toward reducing our overall exposure to air pollution, even in places with low levels of air pollution, short-term spikes are still commonplace,” says senior author Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia Mailman School. “For this reason, it is important to identify means to minimize those harms.”

An earlier study by Baccarelli found that B vitamins may also play a role in reducing the health impact of air pollution.

Co-authors include Brent Coull, Xihong Lin, and Joel Schwartz at Harvard; and Pantel Vokonas at the Boston University School of Medicine.The current study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES009089, ES021733, ES025225, ES027747). The VA Normative Aging Study is supported by the Cooperative Studies Program/Epidemiology Research and Information Center of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and is a component of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center in Boston.

via Aspirin may halve air pollution harms — ScienceDaily

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