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 The authors looked at evidence of reduced deaths and disability from
heart and respiratory disease and other illnesses at the individual
and population levels within days or weeks of measures to reduce
small-particle air pollution. The most dramatic health improvements
occurred in regions with high air pollution that reduced their total
output, but even small areas that decreased air pollution slightly
saw improvements, the study authors report in the Annals of the
American Thoracic Society.
"Air pollution is a major risk factor for health in all organs of
your body, and everyone needs to be aware that air pollution has
real consequences," said Dr. Dean Schraufnagel of the University of
Illinois at Chicago, the study's lead author.
"At the same time, air pollution is an avoidable health risk," he
told Reuters Health by phone. "Reducing it can result in prompt and
substantial health gains and improve climate change as well."
Schraufnagel and colleagues at the Forum of International
Respiratory Societies reviewed case studies where health improved
after pollution was reduced, even if only for a short period of
time, such as temporary restrictions around Olympic games.
They focused on several questions, including how quickly health
changes, how much it improves, whether international standards must
be met to see health differences and whether national and
international air quality standards are good enough to reduce
disease related to air pollution.
Overall, the team found that respiratory and irritation symptoms
like coughing, sore throat, phlegm and shortness of breath improved
within a few weeks after a reduction in pollution output from
sources such as a steel mill, or pollution-reduction measures during
the 1996 and 2008 Olympics. In addition, fewer children were absent
from school or went to emergency rooms with severe asthma, and
doctors saw fewer hospitalizations, clinic visits, premature births,
heart attacks and deaths overall.
In particular, bans on smoking in public areas reduced deaths
overall, especially from heart and lung diseases. Ireland's national
smoking ban in 2004, for instance, reduced heart attacks and
childhood asthma attacks.
"The decrease in death and major diseases surprised me, but once you
think about it, it makes sense because someone with heart disease
could come in contact with smoke or fine particles in the air and
have more stress on their body," Schraufnagel said. "Policymakers
and the public need to know how important this is."
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Reducing household air pollution is important as well, he added.
Switching to cleaner fuel, upgrading stoves and using household air
filters significantly reduce health issues, the study authors found,
including headaches, high blood pressure and asthma. Specifically,
electric high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifiers decreased
exposure to allergens and particles inside homes.
On the largest scale, the authors cite the U.S. Clean Air Act as one
of the most successful public health laws of all time, noting that
it returned monetary benefits 32-fold greater than the costs of
cutting pollution, according to a calculation by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. The savings came from reduced
premature deaths, including 200,000 fewer heart attacks per year,
and 66,000 fewer hospital admissions for respiratory disease per
year.
Although air pollution affects everyone, the study authors point
out, the most vulnerable groups face higher risks, including
children, the elderly, people with chronic diseases and the poor.
Urban growth, industrialization and global warming contribute to
these factors, which raises the degree of urgency for pollution
control.
"To reduce air pollution and limit climate change, we need a rapid
transition to a cleaner and renewable energy system coupled with
increases in energy efficiency," said William Fisk of Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory's Indoor Environment Group in Berkeley,
California, who wasn't involved in the review.
"Get informed. With knowledge, individuals can reduce their air
pollution exposures, particularly their indoor exposures, which
often dominate," he told Reuters Health by email. "The collective
action of individuals is essential to reduce future air pollution
and climate change."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2Ew54qG Annals of the American Thoracic
Society, online December 1, 2019.
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