The Role of Capacity-Building Organizations and Environmental Threat in Addressing Air Quality in Highly Polluted Regions

IIt has been assumed that damage from exposure to tobacco smoke and other particulate air pollutants is imposed primarily on the lungs and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates in patients with preexisting lung disease. This is supported by a considerable amount of previous data, such as the mortality data from the December 1952 London smog disaster, which may have caused as many as 12 000 deaths, almost all in patients with preexisting lung disease.1 Total suspended particulate matter (PM) was as high as 3000 μg/m3. Similar patterns of elevated morbidity and mortality rates, primarily in patients with preexisting lung disease, have been documented in other acute episodes of air pollution in the past.2 However, evidence from the past 10 years shows that sudden increases in ambient air pollution can also rapidly raise morbidity and mortality rates in patients with existing cardiovascular disease, as much or more than the rise associated with lung disease. In the present issue of Circulation , Pope and associates3 report interesting new data on the effects on mortality rate of long-term differences, as opposed to sudden transient increases, in levels of air pollution. Data were derived from a large, comprehensive study initiated by the American Cancer Society and linked to cancer prevention. The study involved a large population of subjects enrolled in 1982 from metropolitan centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Vital status of participants was collected every 2 years for the subsequent 16 years, and a cause of death was identified for 98% of the known fatalities. Metropolitan area of residence was known for each participant, and particle counts of fine particulates were averaged over quarterly intervals throughout the year for each included metropolitan area. A questionnaire provided additional data, allowing for differences in mortality …

Introduction: Identification of the groups of patients that are the most vulnerable to the effects of ambient air pollution is required for the development of public health measures to promote health and prevent diseases in cities with a high level of atmospheric air pollution with the further going aim to reduce mortality and increase life expectancy of the population Aim: To analyze associations between air pollution and mortality from the most common non-communicable diseases stratified across genders and age-groups. Methods: To assess the isolated effect of ambient air pollution on the mortality rate, we selected 4 pairs of cities with similar climatic and socio-economic condition, but with high vs. low levels of air pollution. There pairs were: Bratsk - Kirov; Chita - Tomsk; Nizhny Tagil - Kirov; Magnitogorsk - Orenburg. Differences in mortality rates from major non-communicable diseases between the cities were analyzed using stratification by gender and age. Results: Cardiovascular mortality in cities with high levels of air pollution significantly exceeded mortality in cities with low pollution in all age groups. The differences in mortality from respiratory causes and neoplasms was less pronounced. Conclusion: The results suggest that high levels of air pollution may be associated with greater cardiovascular mortality in all age- groups. Closer monitoring of cardiovascular health of residents of polluted cities is warranted.

Previous research shows poorer birth outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities and for persons with low socioeconomic status (SES). We evaluated whether mothers in groups at higher risk for poor birth outcomes live in areas of higher air pollution and whether higher exposure to air pollution contributes to poor birth outcomes. An index representing long-term exposure to criteria air pollutants was matched with birth certificate data at the county level for the United States in 1998-1999. We used linear regression to estimate associations between the air pollution index and maternal race and educational attainment, a marker for SES of the mother, controlling for age, parity, marital status, and region of the country. Then we used logistic regression models both to estimate likelihood of living in counties with the highest levels of air pollution for different racial groups and by educational attainment, adjusting for other maternal risk factors, and to estimate the effect of living in counties with higher levels of air pollution on preterm delivery and births small for gestational age (SGA). Hispanic, African-American, and Asian/Pacific Islander mothers experienced higher mean levels of air pollution and were more than twice as likely to live in the most polluted counties compared with white mothers after controlling for maternal risk factors, region, and educational status [Hispanic mothers: adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.66; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.92-11.32; African-American mothers: AOR = 2.58; 95% CI, 1.00-6.62; Asian/Pacific Islander mothers: AOR = 2.82; 95% CI, 1.07-7.39]. Educational attainment was not associated with living in counties with highest levels of the air pollution index (AOR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.40-2.26) after adjusting for maternal risk factors, region of the country, and race/ethnicity. There was a small increase in the odds of preterm delivery (AOR = 1.05; 95% CI, 0.99-1.12) but not SGA (AOR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.86-1.07) in a county with high air pollution. Additional risk of residing in areas with poor air quality may exacerbate health problems of infants and children already at increased risk for poor health.

Several histopathological and cytological studies have shown that lesions of the respiratory tract epithelium become increasingly severe with duration of exposure to high levels of urban air pollution as well as with ageing of studied population groups. In this study we investigated and compared findings of cytological abnormalities in sputa of young adults (21-25 years of age) exposed to high levels of air pollution since birth with those who were exposed in the last 2-3 years only. All subjects were non-smokers and were clinically healthy at the time of sampling. No significant differences in the incidence or severity of any of the cytological findings were found. The fact that even 10 times longer exposure to air pollution resulted in no major respiratory tract epithelial changes is, in our opinion, a result of the extremely efficient defence mechanisms and enormous regenerative potential of the respiratory tract of younger people.

Outdoor air pollution and lung cancer: recent epidemiologic evidence.

New WHO global air quality guidelines: more pressure on nations to reduce air pollution levels

به منظور شناسایی نقش الگوهای گردش منطقه‌ای جو در بروز روزهای بسیار آلوده در شهر مشهد از یک روش تحلیل همدید ترکیبی استفاده شد. برای انجام پژوهش، چهار دسته داده، شامل داده‌های ایستگاه‌های سنجش آلودگی هوا، داده‌های رقومی جوی، داده‌های ایستگاه جو بالا و خروجی‌های مدلHYSPLIT مورد استفاده قرار گرفت. با استفاده از شاخص استاندارد آلودگی هوا (PSI)، کیفیت هوا برای شهر مشهد در یک دوره 7 ساله (1390-1384) مورد بررسی قرار گرفت و روزهای بسیار آلوده (200> PSI) شناسایی شد و با کاربست تؤامان تحلیل همدید دستی، ردیابی پسگرد ذرات معلق و بررسی شرایط ترمودینامیک جو مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. نتایج بررسی بیانگر آن است که روزهای بسیار آلوده در شهر مشهد در قالب چهار الگوی گردشی اصلی شامل: الگوی ترکیبی پرفشارسیبری-پشته جنب حاره ای، پرفشار مهاجر، پشته جنب حاره‌ای و الگوی کم فشار برون حاره، قابل طبقه‌بندی می‌باشند. در الگوی ترکیبی پرفشار سیبری-پشته جنب حاره‌ای، شکل گیری همزمان یک لایه وارونگی دمایی کم ضخامت در ترازهای زیرین جو و لایه وارونگی دیگری در وردسپهرمیانی، نقش تؤامان پرفشار سیبری و پشته جنب حاره‌ای را در افزایش آلودگی هوا نمایان می سازد. در الگوی پرفشار مهاجر، به واسطه استقرار پشته ای قوی در محدوده کوه‌های اورال- دریای خزر در وردسپهر میانی و شکل‌گیری یک مرکز گردش واچرخندی در حدفاصل دریای خزر تا بخش های شمالی خراسان در وردسپهر زیرین، شاهد ظهور همزمان چند لایه وارونگی کم ضخامت در نیمرخ قائم جو هستیم. الگوی پشته جنب حاره ای، الگویی برجسته از تیپ وارونگی فرونشستی را تنها در دوره گرم سال به نمایش می گذارد. در مقابل، در الگوی کم فشار، بروز روزهای بسیار آلوده، ناشی از توان جو در برداشت، انتقال و پخش گردوغبار و ذرات معلق است که بواسطه ناپایداری و صعود گسترده هوا به همراه عدم تغذیه رطوبتی مناسب در سامانه‌های چرخندی عبوری حاصل می گردد.

Air pollution, racial disparities, and COVID-19 mortality

Aim: We aimed to investigate the association between long-term air pollution and cognitive decline and dementia, and to clarify the role of CVD on the studied association. Methods: We examined 3150 dementia-free 60+ year-olds in the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, Stockholm for up to 13 years, during which 363 persons developed dementia. Outdoor air pollution levels at the home address were assessed yearly for all participants, using a dispersion model for nitrogen oxides (NOX), mainly emitted from road traffic. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to quantify the association between air pollution and cognitive decline (with the Mini Mental State Examination). The risk of dementia, in keeping with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV edition, was estimated using competing-risks models, considering death as competing event, and considering an exposure window 0-5 years before a year at risk. Stratified analyses by CVD were also performed. Results: Higher levels of traffic-related residential air pollution were associated with steeper cognitive decline over the follow-up period. After controlling for potential confounders, higher levels of air pollution were associated with increased risk of dementia (HR: 1.13, 95%CI: 1.05-1.22, for an µg/m3 unit increase NOX). The stratified analyses showed that the presence of CVD enhanced the effect of air pollution on dementia risk. Conclusion: Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution was associated with a higher risk of dementia. Cardiovascular disease might have played a role in this association.

The public health benefits of air pollution control

Air pollution has been recognized as a human carcinogen. Children living in urban areas are a high-risk group, because genetic damage occurring early in life is considered able to increase the risk of carcinogenesis in adulthood. This study aimed to investigate micronuclei (MN) frequency, as a biomarker of DNA damage, in exfoliated buccal cells of pre-school children living in a town with high levels of air pollution. A sample of healthy 3-6-year-old children living in Brescia, Northern Italy, was investigated. A sample of the children's buccal mucosa cells was collected during the winter months in 2012 and 2013. DNA damage was investigated using the MN test. Children's exposure to urban air pollution was evaluated by means of a questionnaire filled in by their parents that included items on various possible sources of indoor and outdoor pollution, and the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) and NO2 in the 1–3 weeks preceding biological sample collection. 181 children (mean age±SD: 4.3±0.9 years) were investigated. The mean±SD MN frequency was 0.29±0.13%. A weak, though statistically significant, association of MN with concentration of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5 and NO2) was found, whereas no association was apparent between MN frequency and the indoor and outdoor exposure variables investigated via the questionnaire. This study showed a high MN frequency in children living in a town with heavy air pollution in winter, higher than usually found among children living in areas with low or medium-high levels of air pollution.

Air pollution is a complex mixture of gases (e.g., ozone), particulate matter, and organic compounds present in outdoor and indoor air. Dogs exposed to severe air pollution exhibit chronic inflammation and acceleration of Alzheimer's-like pathology, suggesting that the brain is adversely affected by pollutants. We investigated whether residency in cities with high levels of air pollution is associated with human brain inflammation. Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), an inflammatory mediator, and accumulation of the 42-amino acid form of beta-amyloid (Abeta42), a cause of neuronal dysfunction, were measured in autopsy brain tissues of cognitively and neurologically intact lifelong residents of cities having low (n:9) or high (n:10) levels of air pollution. Genomic DNA apurinic/apyrimidinic sites, nuclear factor-kappaB activation and apolipoprotein E genotype were also evaluated. Residents of cities with severe air pollution had significantly higher COX2 expression in frontal cortex and hippocampus and greater neuronal and astrocytic accumulation of Abeta42 compared to residents in low air pollution cities. Increased COX2 expression and Abeta42 accumulation were also observed in the olfactory bulb. These findings suggest that exposure to severe air pollution is associated with brain inflammation and Abeta42 accumulation, two causes of neuronal dysfunction that precede the appearance of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

Impacts of air pollution wave on years of life lost: A crucial way to communicate the health risks of air pollution to the public

The presence of one or more contaminants (harmful substances) in the atmosphere in a specific quantity, for such duration, which is injurious or tends to be injurious to human health, welfare, animal, or plant life is called air pollution. Air pollutants are of commonly two types, which are produced through natural pollutants; they include dust (crustal material), sea salts, biological material, pollen, spores or plant-animal debris, volcanic eruptions (which release a very large quantity of gases and particles into the atmosphere), periodic forest fires, thunderbolts, wind erosion, and low concentration ozone. Other types of pollutants are produced in human-made (technical) environments, like mobile sources (cars, trucks, airplanes, marine engines, etc.) or point sources (factories, electric power plants, etc.). The high level of air pollution is a big problem all over the world and also in Afghanistan, and all residents of this country are severely exposed to this ever-worsening situation. Air pollution and other extraordinary environmental problems are factors that threaten the livelihood of millions of Afghans, as a study report shows that 60% of Kabul’s residents are exposed to increased levels of harmful toxins, such as, nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide. According to the State of Global Air report, more than 26,000 afghan deaths could be attributed to pollution in 2007, but United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented nearly 3,500 civilian casualties from the war for the same time period, so air pollution is killing more Afghans than war because they burn anything possible to get energy and heat they need. Result of air sampling in major urban centers of Afghanistan shows high amounts of particulate matters (PM), benzo-a-pyrene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) originating from vehicle exhaust emission. The highest concentrations were founded in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif (13.6 ng/m3 ). The absence of industrial parks, nonconformity of environmental protection rules, especially by industries, urbanization, degradation of fertile lands, deforestation, seasonal winds, drought, internal migration, and low knowledge about pesticides and herbicides use, are factors that boost the severity of air pollution in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, women are more exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution because they spend more time at home due to their cultural rules; also, women have responsibility for household activities, working in the kitchen to prepare food, they are exposed to poor sanitation and contaminated water supplies, they clean and sweep rooms and yards with inadequate protection equipment, which are significant sources of dust, so they are often exposed to high levels of smoke and dust for long periods.

Air pollution is a pressing global issue, particularly acute in rapidly urbanizing regions like Delhi-NCR. This research presents a longitudinal study to quantitatively analyze air pollution levels and their health implications in Delhi-NCR. The research objectives include assessing air quality trends, examining the relationships between various pollutants, and investigating the impact of air pollution on respiratory admissions. Data was sourced from the Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Network, covering the years 2020 to 2022, focusing on key pollutants, including PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO, and O3. A range of data analysis techniques, including correlation analysis, regression analysis, longitudinal data analysis, spatial analysis, and compliance with WHO guidelines, were applied. Key findings highlight persistently high levels of air pollutants, strong interrelations among pollutants, and consistent respiratory admissions, especially in winter. Regression analysis confirms a significant link between PM2.5 and respiratory admissions. Longitudinal analysis demonstrates the long-term health consequences of air pollution, and spatial analysis reveals district-wise variations in air quality. The study also emphasizes seasonal strategies, compliance with international guidelines, and socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes. This research has broader implications for evidence-based policymaking, emphasizing the urgency of addressing air quality concerns. It calls for targeted interventions, district-level strategies, season-specific measures, and equitable access to healthcare. These findings offer a comprehensive basis for addressing the air quality crisis in Delhi-NCR, ultimately promoting the well-being of its residents.