Information » Health Risks » Air Pollution
We can survive for weeks without food and can go days without water, but without oxygen we would not last more than five minutes. Considering how critical it is to our survival on earth, you would think that keeping it clean would be a top priority for the human race. Sadly, this is one of many things we have not yet learned.
The Canadian Medical Association has spoken out about this problem. Their recent report entitled No Breathing Room: National Illness Costs of Air Pollution outlines how air pollution kills over 20,000 Canadians per year.
The word smog is a hybrid of the words smoke and fog. It was first mentioned in 1893 in the Los Angeles Times, but air pollution is a much older problem. The city of London, where very bad days were called pea soupers, has been infamous for its smog for centuries. This persisted until very recently, and ‘The Great Smog of 1952’ killed over 4000 people in 4 days.
The sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in smog are responsible for acid rain. Most of it was produced by burning coal, so it has become less of a problem recently in the west. In contrast, China and Russia now burn billions of tons of coal every year. When these pollutants interact with sunlight in the atmosphere, they produce a soup of chemicals that are all toxic to humans. This includes things like carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone.
In terms of human health, the most important pollutants in air are referred to as particulate matter. These are tiny particles of soil, soot, acid condensates and other toxic materials, most of which come from automobiles. They are classified by size, and the smaller particles are the most dangerous. PM10 and PM2.5 are measures of the number of particles smaller than 10 and 2.5 microns, respectively.
Obviously, bad air damages the lungs first and foremost. Nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide are also harmful. The Swiss SAPALDIA study and the Southern California Children’s study have suggested the risk of these chemicals, but just how bad they are is still not clear.
Ozone has been more clearly studied; there is good evidence that it worsens asthma in children. This comes from the Adventist Health Smog Study, the French and Taiwan ISAAC studies and the Southern California Cohort study. They suggest that every asthma risk doubles for every 0.027 parts per million (ppm) rise in ozone levels. They also suggest that children develop smaller lungs if they are exposed at an early age – remember that our lungs do not fully develop until we are 8 years old. Higher ozone levels also increase the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 1
Particulate matter does not just affect the lungs. The tiniest of these particles get into the bloodstream, where they damage blood vessels and wreak havoc on many parts of the body. We try to repair this damage the best way we know how – inflammation. Inflammation evolved over millions of years as a way to heal injuries - unfortunately, evolution did not plan for air pollution.
Our body’s efforts to repair this damage is one of the root causes of heart disease, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s and many of the diseases of modern man. The inflammation caused by particulate matter does not just cause lung problems – it is the master of many of diseases.
The fact that particulate matter increases the risk of death, especially from heart disease, is unquestioned.2,3 Many studies have consistently shown that the more particulate matter there is in a city or other area, the more deaths there are due to heart disease. The EU estimates that air pollution kills 100,000 people every year in Europe. Worldwide, the number is easily over a million. A Dutch study found that simply living near a major road almost doubled the risk of heart disease.
The other thing that is unique about particulate matter is that it increases the risk of death from any cause. This makes sense, since it triggers inflammation – and inflammation is at the root of the many diseases of aging. The anti-inflammation approaches to diet, exercise and supplementation that are proven to prevent and treat heart disease are the best way to treat the damage done by air pollution.
Air pollution is critical to human health. This is so straightforward, so easy to understand, that it is a perfect example of how humans cannot be healthy without a healthy environment. Fortunately, it is never too late to lower air pollution. Large studies have shown that people get healthier when their air quality improves.
Total deaths in Dublin decreased by 8% after a decrease in particulate air pollution due to a ban on home heating with coal.4 Restrictions on the sulfur content of fuel oil in Hong Kong resulted in a 4% decline in respiratory diseases. In the Harvard Six Cities Study, the risk of death declined by 27% after a significant decrease in particulate air pollution. 5
Good science confirms that breathing bad air makes us sick. Good science also confirms that improving air quality can save lives. Although it may sound like a drastic measure, moving to a neighborhood or street with better air quality is not just a matter of taste; it can make a real difference to your health and that of your family. Read a recent news article.