Air Pollution News and Research

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Link between ambient air pollution and acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack

An article published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis looks specifically at airborne particulate matter resulting mainly from the combustion of fuel, including coal and also from forest fires.

26 Sep 2005

Significant death risk linked to airborne particles

Experts may be significantly underestimating air pollution's role in causing early death, according to a team of American and Canadian researchers, who studied two decades' worth of data on residents of the Los Angeles metro area.

20 Sep 2005

Roflumilast could become a new therapeutic strategy for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

An anti-inflammatory drug called roflumilast could become a new therapeutic strategy for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), conclude the results of a randomised trial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

11 Aug 2005

17 percent of infants living near "stop and go" traffic suffer from wheezing

University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers have found that 17 percent of infants living near "stop and go" traffic suffer from wheezing.

24 Jul 2005

Maryland's poor, African-American communities suffer disproportionate cancer risk from air pollution

Maryland communities that are poor and predominantly African-American incur a disproportionate cancer risk from ambient exposure to airborne toxins, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

15 Jun 2005

Adults with diabetes at higher risk for cardiovascular problems due air pollution

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues assessed the effect of high air pollution levels, specifically emissions from coal-burning power plants and diesel vehicles, on Boston-area adults with diabetes.

8 Jun 2005

Nitrogen oxides emitted by soil could play a substantially larger role in seasonal air pollution

Nitrogen oxides produced by huge fires and fossil fuel combustion are a major component of air pollution. They are the primary ingredients in ground-level ozone, a pollutant harmful to human health and vegetation.

6 Jun 2005

Childrens' mental development may be impaired by aircraft noise

A new study is suggesting that exposure to aircraft noise at schools located near major airports may affect the development of children's mental skills in an adverse way, and this applies especially to reading comprehension.

6 Jun 2005

Aircraft noise could impair the development of reading and memory in children

Exposure to high levels of aircraft noise could impair the development of reading and memory in children, suggests a study published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

3 Jun 2005

Short term high pollution concentrations linked to dangerous heart arrhythmias

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues from Boston area medical institutions have linked short term high pollution concentrations with an increased incidence of irregular and very dangerous heart arrhythmias among a group of cardiac patients from the greater Boston area who had implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICD).

1 Jun 2005

Research shows smoking bans unlikely to affect business in Canada

More people reported that they would likely visit bars and restaurants if they are smoke-free than the number who would stay away because of a smoking ban. These are the results of recent public opinion research announced today by Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh.

1 Jun 2005

Diabetics more sensitive to cardiovascular effects from air pollution

People with diabetes may be at higher risk for cardiovascular problems when air pollution levels are higher, according to a new study of Boston-area residents. The ability of the blood vessels to control blood flow was impaired in adults with diabetes on days with elevated levels of particles from traffic and coal-burning power plants.

31 May 2005

Tollbooth ventilation system effective in protecting workers from traffic air pollution

Although there is the potential for tollbooth workers at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel to be exposed to high levels of cancer-causing air toxins emitted from the thousands of vehicles that pass under their nose, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the tollbooth ventilation system was effective in keeping air toxins out of the tollbooth and away from the workers.

5 May 2005

Exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of fatal myocardial infarction

Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in Sweden and other Western European countries. Known risk factors include age, gender, hereditariness, smoking, hypertension and high blood lipid levels.

22 Apr 2005

Concern about the environment grows in East Asia as impacts of pollution and urbanization increase

Pollution and environmental degradation increasingly threaten the health of East Asia and Pacific's rapidly urbanizing population, according to two new environment reports from the World Bank.

19 Apr 2005

Children on school buses may face increased exposure to diesel pollution

Diesel particle pollution inside urban school buses may be worse than levels found in the surrounding roadway air, according to a study by scientists at the University of California. The report appears in the April 15 issue of the American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology.

19 Apr 2005

Millions of mothers and children are dying unnecessarily

The millions of seemingly preventable deaths of women and children each year has prompted the United Nations to devote this year’s World Health Day to highlighting their plight.

7 Apr 2005

More exhaust inhaled by kids inside school buses than by others in the area

Children on school buses collectively inhale as much or more exhaust emitted from those buses as does the rest of the city's population, according to a new analysis by researchers at the University of California.

4 Apr 2005

Diesel engines are posing a serious threat to public health

Air particles emitted mainly by diesel engines are posing a serious threat to public health, warn respiratory physiotherapists in a new report published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

1 Mar 2005

Global warming will bring climate-related health crises

As a result, governments and health officials need to begin to think about how to respond to an anticipated increase in the number and scope of climate-related health crises, ranging from killer heat waves and famine, to floods and waves of infectious diseases.

20 Feb 2005