Link Between Air Pollution, Increased Deaths And Increased Deaths From Heart Disease Affirmed -Survey of half-million Americans highlights harmful effects of toxic, aerosolized fine particles
NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In what is believed to be the largest, most detailed study of its kind in the United States,
scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere have confirmed
that tiny chemical particles in the air we breathe are linked to an
overall increase in risk of death.
The researchers say this kind of
air pollution involves particles so small they are invisible to the
human eye (at less than one ten-thousandth of an inch in diameter, or no
more than 2.5 micrometers across).
In a report on the findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives online Sept. 15,
the scientists conclude that even minuscule increases in the amount of
these particles (by 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, for example)
lead to an overall increased risk of death from all causes by 3 percent
-- and roughly a 10 percent increase in risk of death due to heart
disease. For nonsmokers, the risk increase rises to 27 percent in cases
of death due to respiratory disease.
"Our data add to a growing body of
evidence that particulate matter is really harmful to health,
increasing overall mortality, mostly deaths from cardiovascular disease,
as well as deaths from respiratory disease in nonsmokers," says lead
study investigator and health epidemiologist George Thurston,
ScD, a professor of population health and environmental medicine at NYU
Langone. "Our study is particularly notable because all the data used
in our analysis comes from government- and independently held sources."
According to Thurston, fine
particles can contribute to the development of potentially fatal heart
and lung diseases because they slip past the body's defenses and can be
absorbed deep into the lungs and bloodstream. They are not sneezed or
coughed out the way larger natural particles, like airborne soil and
sand, are removed from the body's airways. Moreover, Thurston says, fine
particles are usually made of harmful chemicals such as arsenic,
selenium, and mercury, and can also transport gaseous pollutants,
including sulfur and nitrogen oxides, with them into the lungs.
For their research, Thurston and
his colleagues evaluated data from a detailed health and diet survey
conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American
Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The NIH-AARP study involved
566,000 male and female volunteers, ages 50 to 71, from California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and the metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Detroit.
Analyzing information gathered
about the participants between 2000 and 2009, the researchers calculated
the death risk from exposure to particulate matter for people in each
national census district by cross-referencing information about the
amount and type of particulate matter from the Environmental Protection
Agency's Air Quality System and other databases. The investigators then
statistically ruled out other variables impacting health and longevity
including age, race or ethnicity, level of education, marital status,
body size, alcohol consumption, how much participants smoked or not, and
socio-economic factors such as median neighborhood income and how many
people in the neighborhood did not graduate from high school.
Indeed, the team did not find any
significant difference in the effect of particulate matter exposure
between different sexes or age groups or by level of education.
The researchers also noted that limiting the analysis to only the state of California,
which has the most rigorous controls on air pollution, did not produce a
different overall level of risk; instead, they found the same
association between particulate matter exposure and increase in risk of
death from all nonaccidental causes and from cardiovascular disease.
Senior study investigator and health epidemiologist Richard B. Hayes,
DDS, PhD, MPH, says the team next plans to study which components of
particulate matter are most harmful and whether they come from auto
exhaust, chemical plants, or coal-burning power plants.
"We need to better inform
policymakers about the types and sources of particulate pollution so
they know where to focus regulations," says Hayes, a professor of
population health and environmental medicine at NYU Langone. "It is
especially important to continue monitoring health risks as national
standards for air pollution are strengthened."
Funding support for the study was
provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a
member of the National Institutes of Health. Corresponding grant numbers
are R01 ES019584, R21 ES021194, and P30 ES00260. Additional study
funding support was provided by NYU.
Thurston has provided expert
witness testimony about the human health effects of air pollution before
the U.S. Congress, in EPA public hearings, and has been paid by
environmental and conservation groups in legal cases. The terms of these
arrangements are being managed by NYU in accordance with its conflict of interest policies.
In addition to Thurston and Hayes, other NYU Langone investigators involved in the study were Jiyoung Ahn, PhD; Kevin Cromar, PhD; Yongzhao Shao, PhD; Harmony Reynolds, MD; Chris Lim, MS; and Ryan Shanley, PhD. Other collaborators included Michael Jerrett, PhD, at the University of California Berkeley; and Yikyung Park, ScD, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.
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