Respro® Bulletin Board

Air pollution linked to childhood anxiety: Researchers investigate traffic-related air pollution and symptoms of childhood anxiety, through neuroimaging

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Exposure to air pollution is a well-established global health problem associated with complications for people with asthma and respiratory disease, as well as heart conditions and an increased risk of stroke, and according to the World Health Organization, is responsible for millions of deaths annually. Emerging evidence now suggests that air pollution may also impact the metabolic and neurological development of children.

A new study from researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center looks at the correlation between exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and childhood anxiety, by looking at the altered neurochemistry in pre-adolescents.

“Recent evidence suggests the central nervous system is particularly vulnerable to air pollution, suggesting a role in the etiology of mental disorders, like anxiety or depression,” says Kelly Brunst, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the College of Medicine, and lead author on the study.

“This is the first study to use neuroimaging to evaluate TRAP exposure, metabolite dysregulation in the brain and generalized anxiety symptoms among otherwise healthy children,” says Brunst.

The study was published by the journal Environmental Research.

The researchers evaluated imaging of 145 children at an average age of 12 years, looking specifically at the levels of myo-inositol found in the brain through a specialized MRI technique, magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Myo-inositol is a naturally-occurring metabolite mainly found in specialized brain cells known as glial cells, that assists with maintaining cell volume and fluid balance in the brain, and serves as a regulator for hormones and insulin in the body. Increases in myo-inositol levels correlate with an increased population of glial cells, which often occurs in states of inflammation.

They found that, among those exposed to higher levels of recent TRAP, there were significant increases of myo-inositol in the brain, compared to those with lower TRAP exposure. They also observed increases in myo-inositol to be associated with more generalized anxiety symptoms. “In the higher, recent exposure group, we saw a 12% increase in anxiety symptoms,” says Brunst.

Brunst noted however, that the observed increase in reported generalized anxiety symptoms in this cohort of typically developing children was relatively small and are not likely to result in a clinical diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. “However, I think it can speak to a bigger impact on population health … that increased exposure to air pollution can trigger the brain’s inflammatory response, as evident by the increases we saw in myo-inositol,” says Brunst. “This may indicate that certain populations are at an increased risk for poorer anxiety outcomes.”

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

via Air pollution linked to childhood anxiety: Researchers investigate traffic-related air pollution and symptoms of childhood anxiety, through neuroimaging — ScienceDaily

Posted in Air Quality, Health Effects of Air Pollution, Medical Studies | Tagged Air Pollution, Health Effects of Air Pollution, World Heath Organization (WHO) | Leave a comment

It’s time to recognise air pollution as an occupational health hazard

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

British Safety Council’s report makes the case for urgent action on the impact of air pollution on outdoor workers

The British Safety Council has launched a report ‘Impact of air pollution on the health of outdoor workers’ which provides compelling evidence to recognize ambient air pollution as an occupational health hazard in Britain. In the report, the charity presents the demands that spearhead its campaign to limit the dangers of air pollution to the health of outdoor workers.

Air pollution, linked with up to 36,000 early deaths a year in the UK, is considered the biggest environmental risk to public health. Research from King’s College London suggests that more than 9,400 people die prematurely due to poor air quality in London alone. Ambient air pollution is linked to cancer, lung and heart disease, type-2 diabetes, infertility and early dementia.

Several pilot schemes are beginning to monitor and measure the levels of air pollution experienced by people working and living in London. Their findings will be instrumental in developing recommendations for reducing people’s exposure to air pollution in the capital.

However, at the same time, the government and regulatory bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), continue to demonstrate a lack of interest in relation to regulation and guidance on air pollution.

In March 2019, the British Safety Council launched its Time to Breathe campaign, which is focused on the protection of outdoor workers from air pollution. The cornerstone of the campaign is Canairy, the first mobile app that gives outdoor workers and their employers insights into pollution and how to reduce staff exposure to it. It has been created in co-operation with King’s College London. Canairy draws on the London Air Quality Network (LAQN) pollution map at King’s and the worker’s GPS to calculate an individual’s exposure to pollution on an hourly basis.

The British Safety Council’s report ‘Impact of air pollution on the health of outdoor workers’ is the next step in the campaign. It gathers available evidence about the causes and consequences of air pollution in Britain. It also reviews international examples of initiatives set up to measure air pollution in different locations and their recommendations for risk reduction.

In the report the British Safety Council is calling for:

The UK to adopt the World Health Organisation’s exposure limits for the main pollutants;
Government action to ensure ambient air pollution is treated as an occupational health issue and adopt a Workplace Exposure Limit for Diesel Engine Exhaust Emissions (DEEE);
Improvements to pollution monitoring across the UK, so that all regions can have the same accuracy in emissions data as London;
Recognition that protection from the dangers of air pollution should be enshrined in law as a human right.
Lawrence Waterman, Chairman of the British Safety Council, said: “The impact of air pollution on people working in large cities is starting to be recognised as a major public health risk. However, we are yet to see any true commitment to addressing this issue by the government and the regulators.

“The Time to Breathe campaign, together with our recent report, is a call to action for policymakers, regulators and industry leaders. The social and economic implications of ambient air pollution are clear. It must be recognised as an occupational health hazard, much like some toxic substances such as asbestos. Breathing clean air is not a privilege but a basic human right for the thousands of people who are undertaking vital work outdoors.”

The British Safety Council is urging everyone to write to their MPs to request that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) do more to protect outdoor workers from the dangers of ambient air pollution. To download the template of the letter, click on this link (go to ‘Become a supporter’ section) or use the attachment.

via It’s time to recognise air pollution as an occupational health hazard | PoliticsHome.com

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, Health Effects of Air Pollution, London, UK | Tagged Air Pollution, Health Effects of Air Pollution, London, Research, UK | Leave a comment

Air pollution hotspots in Europe

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Big cities beset with gridlocked traffic, major regions producing coal, pockets of heavy industry encased by mountains—Europe’s air pollution hotspots are clearly visible from space on most sunny weekdays.

All across the continent, tens of millions of people live and work in areas where average air pollution levels are well above the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

But the density and type of pollutants can vary from town to town, and sometimes from block to block, depending on whether one is next to an expressway or inside an urban island of leafy green.

That variability makes it nearly impossible to say with accuracy which Europe’s cities have the most befouled air.

But it is possible to pick out hotspot regions, and rank urban areas by type of pollutant.

Italy’s Po Valley

On maps prepared by the European Environment Agency (EEA), Italy’s Po Valley is covered with a wide, stain-like blotch of air pollution from the Ligurian Sea in the west to the Adriatic, held in place by the towering Alps to the north.

Many cities in the valley have among Europe’s highest concentrations of dangerous microscopic particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, known as PM2.5.

The WHO says these should not exceed, on average, 10 microgrammes per cubic metre of air (10 mcg/m3) per year.

European Union standards are more lenient at 25 mcg/m3, and still several countries regularly overstep this red line.

PM2.5 is a top cause of premature deaths in the EU, some 391,000 in 2016—60,000 in Italy alone.

Turin and Milan, meanwhile, are also plagued by high levels of ozone and nitrogen oxides, produced mainly by petrol- and diesel-burning engines.

According to the Air Quality Life Index, maintained by researchers at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, living in the Po Valley shaves half-a-year off one’s life expectancy.

Poland’s coal country

Another dark spot on Europe’s pollution map is southern Poland, dense with coal-fired power plants and wood-burning.

For PM2.5, Krakow was the second most congested city on the continent in 2016, with an average annual concentration of 38 mcg/m3, just ahead of Katowice.

By comparison, some areas of northern India and China are plagued with concentrations three times higher.

EAA figures for 2016 also show that Krakow and Katowice exceed the recommended annual limits of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone.

Meeting WHO standards for small particle air pollution would add up to 1.5 years to people’s lives in this region, the Air Quality Life Index shows.

Big cities in general

Virtually all major cities in Europe face seasonal pollution peaks or chronic air pollution due to non-electric road traffic.

According to Greenpeace, Sofia in Bulgaria had the highest levels of PM2.5 particulates in Europe in 2018, and placed 21st among all large cities in the world.

Close behind in the Greenpeace ranking—confirmed by EAA figures for 2016—were Warsaw, Bucharest, Nicosia, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Paris and Vienna.

The high number of polluted cities in central Europe is directly linked to the continuing use of coal to generate electricity, experts say.

In western Europe, many cities have NO2 levels well in excess of EU-wide standards.

London tops the list, with an average annual concentration of 89 mcg/m3, followed by Paris (83), Stuttgart (82), Munich (80), Marseille (79), Lyon (71), Athens (70) and Rome (65).

Southern Europe

Even wind-swept southern Europe has not escaped high levels of air pollution, notably ozone, which is created by a chemical reaction—triggered by sunlight—between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds.

The highest levels are generally found along the Mediterranean in spring and summer, when hundreds of thousands of sun-seekers descend upon the region.

via Air pollution hotspots in Europe

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK | Tagged Air Pollution, Athens, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Bulgaria, coal, diesel exhaust fumes, European Environment Agency (EEA), Italy, Krakow, London, Lyon, Marseille, Milan, Munich, Nicosia, Nitrogen Dioxide NO2, NOx, Ozone O3, Paris, PM2.5, Poland, Prague, Rome, Sofia, Stuttgart, Turin, Vienna, Warsaw | Leave a comment

Mexico City declares pollution alert, postpones football semi-final

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Mexico City declared an environmental alert Tuesday, ordering vehicles off the road and postponing the semi-finals of the first-division football league as a blanket of smog enveloped the sprawling capital.

A series of wildfires on the city’s outskirts have combined with stagnant weather conditions to cloak the metropolitan area of more than 20 million people in a gray cloud of air pollution, which passed the critical level of 150 points on the authorities’ air quality index.

“The extraordinary environmental contingency plan has been activated for the Mexico valley metropolitan area due to particles” in the air, the city’s environmental commission said in a statement.

Authorities called on residents to avoid physical activity outdoors, instructed schools to keep children inside at recess and urged the elderly and those with respiratory illnesses to remain inside.

They also ordered cars with certain license plate numbers off the road for Wednesday, and ordered certain polluting industries to take measures to cut their emissions by 30 to 40 percent.

The Mexican football league said that under the recommendation of city officials, it had decided to postpone the first leg of the first-division semi-final between Leon and Mexico City club America from Wednesday night to Thursday because of the pollution.

Firefighters have been battling nearly two dozen wildfires on the outskirts of the city. And with little wind, no rain and temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), weather conditions have allowed the resulting contamination to stagnate.

Mexico City is naturally prone to air pollution: it is surrounded by a ring of mountains that often trap smog over the capital, preventing it from dissipating.

Polluting industries and the more than five million cars on the city’s streets only make matters worse.

via Mexico City declares pollution alert, postpones football semi-final

Posted in Air Quality, Latin America, Mexico | Tagged Air Pollution, Mexico, Mexico City | Leave a comment

Mexico’s wildfires make Mexico City air pollution more hazardous

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

Dozens of wildfires have broken out in Mexico over the past week, sending plumes of smoke drifting far beyond the burn sites to blanket population centers, including Mexico City, home to 21 million people.

Officials in Mexico City have declared a state of emergency and are urging people to stay indoors, as pollution levels soar far above what’s considered healthy for human exposure. Concentrations of PM2.5—tiny particulate matter produced during any combustion, like burning trees and plants during fires—reached 158 micrograms per cubic meter yesterday.

PM2.5 concentrations can be translated to cigarette equivalencies. According to analysis co-authored by Richard Muller, a physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, if you were, on average, exposed to 22 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5, it’d be the equivalent to smoking one cigarette a day. So if you divide the concentration of PM2.5 by 22, you get the rough cigarette equivalence of simply breathing your region’s air.

That means breathing the air on May 14 in Mexico City was the equivalent to smoking about seven cigarettes that day. Today, the city’s PM2.5 level sank slightly, to 143 micrograms per cubic meter, or about six and a half cigarettes.

For comparison, following last year’s wildfires in California, breathing in parts of the state was like smoking 13 cigarettes per day. In November 2017, during a particularly bad air pollution day in Delhi, breathing there was the equivalent of smoking 45 cigarettes in a day.

PM2.5 is small enough to slip deep into lungs, aggravating asthma and contributing to a range of health problems.

The pollution emergency in Mexico City comes as Mexico as a whole faces a very extreme fire year; 4,425 fires have been recorded so far this year, according to the Associated Press, and firefighters are battling an average of about 100 fires per day throughout the country.

The World Resources Institute, a nonprofit research group, is tracking the fires as they arise. Its maps are dotted with dozens of blazes and smoke plumes across Mexico this week.

Mexico is currently at the tail end of its dry season, which gives way to a season of rain in summer.

via Mexico’s wildfires make Mexico City air pollution more hazardous — Quartz

Posted in Air Quality, Latin America, Mexico | Tagged Air Pollution, Mexico, Mexico City, PM2.5, wildfires | Leave a comment

Mexico City pollution: Residents urged to stay indoors

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Officials in Mexico City have declared an environmental emergency after air pollution in the Mexican capital reached levels potentially dangerous to human health.

They urged those at particular risk to stay indoors and restricted the number of cars which can be driven in the city on Wednesday.

Smoke from nearby forest fires has contributed to the spike in pollution.

The city has been wrapped in a smoky haze for days.

Mexican photographer Santiago Arau tweeted video taken from a drone showing the extent of the pollution.

Particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometres or less, known as PM2.5, reached 158 micrograms per cubic metre of air at one measuring station on Tuesday morning, more than six times the World Health Organisation daily mean recommended limit.

PM2.5 particles are thought to be particularly damaging because they are so small, they can penetrate the deepest parts of the lungs.

More than 21 million people live in Mexico City’s metropolitan area and it was once infamous for its poor air quality. Air pollution levels dropped in the late 1990s but have again been on the rise in recent years.

The city lies in a valley and when there is little wind, the air can quickly become stagnant.

Mexico City’s environmental commission advised residents to avoid outdoor activities and Mexico’s first division football league postponed a match between León and Club América, which was due to be played in the capital on Wednesday.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said she would consider cancelling school classes if the pollution got any worse. She said schools were already keeping their pupils indoors at break time.

via Mexico City pollution: Residents urged to stay indoors – BBC News

Posted in Air Quality, Latin America, Mexico | Tagged Air Pollution, Mexico, Mexico City, PM2.5, wildfires | Leave a comment

Dust storm increases air pollution level in city, experts blame low-velocity winds

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

The early morning voters encountered a partially cloudy sky with dust storm blowing during the mid-morning hours.

On Sunday, the pollution levels in the city deteriorated with the AQI (air quality index) recorded at 376 (very poor), according to the air quality monitor at Vikas Sadan near Mini Secretariat.

The early morning voters encountered a partially cloudy sky with dust storm blowing during the mid-morning hours.

While the early and mid-morning hours in the city were relatively cooler, temperatures stayed around 38 degrees Celsius. The mercury rose during the day with the maximum temperature touching 40 degrees Celsius. According to the Indian Meteorological Department(IMD), the weather is all set to improve during the coming week, with temperatures hovering around 38 degrees Celsius with the possibility of rains and thunderstorms.

The Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB) had predicted that there would be a thunderstorm in the city on Sunday that would improve the AQI to moderate (190). As per the CPCB’s AQI bulletin, the AQI stood at 232 on Saturday. However, the pollution levels in the city witnessed a reversal.

Guneet Singh, an air quality expert, attributed the rise in AQI to the low-velocity winds accompanying the dust storm that prevented the pollutant PM2.5 from escaping from the atmosphere. “Showers and thunderstorms would have definitely lowered the AQI readings. The dust and particulate matter in the air get pushed down by water droplets. However, that has not happened. Also, the winds in the dust storm have been of lower velocity. Higher velocity winds often clean up the air especially PM 2.5, which is the primary local pollutant,” he said.

Higher concentrations of PM 2.5 coupled with other pollutants, such as NO2, SO2 and PM 10 deposited in the air by the low-velocity winds in the city added to the pollution levels and imparted a brownish-blue colour to the sky. Residents of the city, who braved the weather to step out for polling, were seen posting updates about the dust storm and the erratic weather.

Namita Gupta, the founder of an air quality monitoring application, said, “The frequency of summer dust storms has increased in the city in the last few years. Coupled with crop-burning activities, these dust storms always lead to an increase in the pollution levels.”

via Dust storm increases air pollution level in city, experts blame low-velocity winds | india news | Hindustan Times

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, India | Tagged Air Pollution, Delhi, India | Leave a comment

Signficant Air Pollution Plagues Almost All U.S. National Parks

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Respro® UK Ltd

Ozone and other pollutants are obscuring views, hurting plants and causing health concerns for visitors at 96 percent of parks

National parks are places people often go to get away from the problems of urban life. But a new report from the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) reveals that a trip to the Rocky Mountains or Yosemite won’t help you escape one major problem of the city: air pollution. According to the report, 96 percent of the United States’ 416 national parks have significant air quality issues.

Researchers found that at times, 85 percent of parks have air that is unhealthy to breathe, reports Earther’s Yessenia Fuentes. About 89 percent of parks also suffer from haze, which reduces iconic views. At 88 percent of the parks, the problem is bad enough to affect sensitive plants and animals. For example, the study points out that at high altitudes, nitrogen from air pollution deposited by rain is causing Rocky Mountain National Park to lose its flowering plants, which are being replaced by grasses.

The most impacted spots are some of the most popular. California’s parks in particular suffer from poor air quality, according to the study. Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Joshua Tree national parks and Mojave National Preserve have dangerous levels of air pollution for more than two months per year, mostly in the summer season when they see the most visitors.

The culprit is primarily ozone, a pollutant that can trigger asthma attacks, irritate the throat and lungs and cause breathing problems in both the elderly and children. Gabrielle Canon at The Guardian reports that a study released last year in the journal Science Advances found that the average ozone concentration in 33 of the most-visited national parks was the same as those found in the 20 largest urban areas in the U.S. Currently, 330 million people visit U.S. national parks each year, meaning millions of susceptible people are being exposed to unhealthy conditions.

“The poor air quality in our national parks is both disturbing and unacceptable,” Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the NPCA says in a press release. “Nearly every single one of our more than 400 national parks is plagued by air pollution. If we don’t take immediate action to combat this, the results will be devastating and irreversible.”

Taking action means addressing the primary cause of the bad air, most of which does not originate in the parks themselves. The biggest sources of pollution come from coal-fired power plants, transportation, and oil and gas development. Transitioning to cleaner energy and transportation are the primary ways to reduce air pollution levels.

While there are some signs that coal-powered plants are losing steam, emissions actually rose 1.8 percent in 2018 after steady declines during the previous decade. And there are concerns that air pollution will get worse if the U.S. continues its current policies. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement action against polluters has dropped by 85 percent in the last few years. Without action on these larger issues, the outlook for the parks remains hazy.

Canon reports that a 1999 policy, the Regional Haze Rule requires states to come up with plans for addressing pollution in the parks by 2021 and implement the strategies by 2028. The ultimate goal is to return parks to pre-pollution levels by 2064. But so far little progress has been made, and some parks won’t reach those levels for hundreds of years at the current pace of cleanup.

But national parks are beloved by people across the ideological spectrum, and Stephanie Kodish, clean air program director for the NPCA, tells Canon she thinks pointing out the impact on the nation’s crown jewels might spur everyone to action. “I hope that people think about our national parks as bipartisan unifiers,” she says. “That the connection to our national parks is one that can help preserve our future, our history, our culture. For the American people, they should serve as a reminder – and a warning cry.”

via Signficant Air Pollution Plagues Almost All U.S. National Parks | Smart News | Smithsonian