Utah Moms for Clean Air

Breathing in air pollution from traffic fumes can raise the risk of potentially deadly blood clots, a US study says.

Exposure to small particulates - tiny chemicals caused by burning fossil fuels - is known to increase the chances of heart disease and stroke.
But the Harvard School of Public Health found it also affected development of deep vein thrombosis - blood clots in the legs - in a study of 2,000 people.
Researchers said the pollution made the blood more sticky and likely to clot.The team looked at people living in Italy - nearly 900 of whom developed DVT.
Blood clots which form in the legs can travel to the lungs, where they can become lodged, triggering a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism. The risk of DVT is known to be increased by long periods of immobility. In particular, passengers on long-haul flights have been shown to be vulnerable, but so are people who spend long periods of time sitting at their office desk without exercising, or walking around.

Researchers obtained pollution readings from the areas they lived and found those exposed to higher levels of small particulates in the year before diagnosis were more likely to develop blood clots.The Archives of Internal Medicine report said for every 10 microgrammes per square metre increase in small particulates, the risk of developing a DVT went up by 70%. Air quality guidelines generally state that small particulate concentrations should not exceed 50 microgrammes. Lead researcher Dr Andrea Baccarelli said: “Given the magnitude of the effects, our findings introduce a novel and common risk factor into the development of DVT.

“And, at the same time, they give further substance to the call for tighter standards and continued efforts aimed at reducing the impact of urban air pollutants on human health.”
Dr Beverley Hunt, medical director of the DVT charity Lifeblood, said: “We have known for some time that air pollution has been associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke. “This study shows for the very first time that air pollution also increases the risk of clots in the veins and tells us why. “It’s an exciting finding because air quality is something we can improve on through tightening air quality legislation.”

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7396733.stm

By Janet Wilson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 22, 2008

As many as 24,000 deaths annually in California are linked to chronic exposure to fine particulate pollution, triple the previous official
estimate of 8,200, according to state researchers. The revised figures are based on a review of new research across the nation about the
hazards posed by microscopic particles, which sink deep into the lungs.

“Our report concludes these particles are 70% more dangerous than previously thought, based on several major studies that have occurred in
the last five years,” said Bart Croes, chief researcher for the California Air Resources Board. Croes will present his findings at a board meeting in Fresno this morning.

The studies, including one by USC tracking 23,000 people in greater Los Angeles, and another by the American Cancer Society monitoring 300,000
people across the United States, have found rates of heart attacks, strokes and other serious disease increase exponentially after exposure
to even slightly higher amounts of metal or dust. It is difficult to attribute individual deaths to particulate pollution, Croes conceded, but he said long-term studies that account for smoking, obesity and other risks have increasingly zeroed in on fine particulate pollution as a killer.

“There’s no death certificate that says specifically someone died of air pollution, but cities with higher rates of air pollution have much
greater rates of death from cardiovascular diseases,” he said.

Californians exposed to high levels of fine particulates had their lives cut short on average by 10 years, the board staff found. Researchers
also found that when particulates are cut even temporarily, death rates fall. “When Dublin imposed a coal ban, when Hong Kong imposed reductions
in sulfur dioxide, when there was a steel mill strike in Utah . . . they saw immediate reductions in deaths,” Croes said.

More measures will be needed, air board officials said, including eventually lowering the maximum permissible levels of soot statewide.
California already has the lowest thresholds in the world, at 12 micrograms per cubic meter, but researchers say no safe level of exposure has been found. More regulations are being drafted, including one requiring cleaner heavy-duty trucks.

“We must work even harder to cut short these life-shortening emissions,” Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said in a statement.

Clean air advocates said they would be watching closely.

“These numbers are shocking; they’re incredible,” said Tim Carmichael, senior policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, a statewide
group. He and others said the board must strengthen a soot clean-up plan submitted to them by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District. A hearing and vote on the plan is scheduled for today.

Numerous Central Valley public health groups wrote Nichols this week, urging bans on the use of industrial equipment on bad air days, tougher
controls on boilers and crop drying equipment, and other action. The economic cost attributed to premature deaths and illnesses linked to
particulate exposure in the Central Valley has been estimated at $3 billion a year, and $70 billion statewide, according to separate studies. Those figure are expected to be revised upward based on the new report.

For more information:
Deborah Shprentz
Consultant to the American Lung Association
703-437-0959
dshprentz@hers.com
www.cleanairstandards.org

Dept of Mechanical Engineering
University of Utah
Seminar Series:
1:30-3:30 PM, Thursday May 22, 2008
1250 Warnock Eng. Building
University of Utah Campus

Air Pollution in the Utah Valleys:
Causes, Effects and Solutions

Professor Delbert Eatough
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, BYU

John Veranth
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, UofU

Robert Sawyer
Department of Mechanical Engineering, UC, Berkeley

The air quality in populated valleys in Utah ranks
among the worst in the country. The financial and
human costs of that pollution are enormous. This
seminar is an exploration the causes, effects and
solutions to this problem with a focus on recent
scientific and engineering understanding. The goal is
to inform university researchers, community health
professionals, community activists and governmental
representatives about the challenges and priorities of
work to be done to improve the air quality in the
State.

The seminar will consist of four parts. The first is a
presentation by Delbert Eatough. Professor Eatough
will discuss the chemistry of anthropogenic pollution,
particularly fine particles and aerosols. He will
present result of his studies and others related to
formation of the most toxic forms of pollution and
provide some insight into ways that public health
might be protected.

The second presentation will be by John Veranth.
Professor Veranth will discuss transport of fine
particles in the atmosphere and biological responses
to transition metals found in inorganic, air borne
particles. Professor Veranth will then discuss options
for reducing the toxicity of the more problematic
compounds found in fine particles.

The third presentation will be given by Robert Sawyer.
Professor Sawyer will discuss solutions to air
pollution that have been implemented in California and
the relevance of those approaches to the local
problems in Utah .

Following the presentations, the three speakers will
form a panel to discuss priority actions that might be
taken to improve the quality of our air.

For more information contact Prof. Kent Udell: 585-0369

It isn’t all in your imagination, flowers really don’t smell as sweet anymore (at least over long distances). A recent study has found that the scent of flowers is reduced by air pollution. This reduction in the odor of flowers may even be partially responsible for the shocking collapse of bee colonies.

“The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters [3,300 to 4,000 feet]; but in today’s polluted environment downwind of major cities, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters [650 to 980 feet],” said study team member Jose D. Fuentes. “[A]ir pollution destroys the aroma of flowers, by as much as 90 percent from periods before automobiles and heavy industry,” Fuentes said. “And the more air pollution there is in a region, the greater the destruction of the flower scents.”

Read more about it here and here.

A new study shows early indications that proximity to mercury release from a coal power plant is a predictor of autism prevalence.

It looks like closer to coal = more autism.

A newly published study of Texas school district data and industrial mercury-release data, conducted by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, indeed shows a statistically significant link between pounds of industrial release of mercury and increased autism rates. It also shows—for the first time in scientific literature—a statistically significant association between autism risk and distance from the mercury source.

This is not a definitive study but adds to other research on the effects of mercury, particularly on children.

The new study findings are consistent with a host of other studies that confirm higher amounts of mercury in plants, animals and humans the closer they are to the pollution source. The price on children may be the highest.

Read on:

• Quotations from: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “Autism Risk Linked To Distance From Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources.” ScienceDaily 25 April 2008. 12 May 2008.
• Original article: Palmer, R.F., et al., Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a predictor of autism prevalence. Health & Place (2008).

Our own Michelle Hofmann, a member of the Utah Moms for Clean Air steering committee and our Education Outreach Chair, published “Air Pollution and Health” in the November issue of the Utah Medical Association Bulletin. The article reviews “the most contemporary findings on this subject” and addresses “the relevance of these studies to the Utah medical community.”

At certain times of the year, Utah has some of the worst air quality in the nation. According to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report for 2007, three of Utah’s major metropolitan areas ranked among the top 25 most polluted by short term particle pollution (PM2.5), including Logan (5th), Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield (7th), and Provo-Orem (19th). Poor air quality not only compromises the aesthetics of our beautiful state, it also significantly endangers the health of Utah’s citizens. An extensive body of scientific evidence now indicates that air pollution is responsible for signifi cant morbidity and mortality; thus, physicians should be aware of these findings in order to optimally protect the health of their patients.

• Read the full article: “Air Pollution and Health,” Michelle Hofmann, MD, MPH and Charles Langelier, MD, PhD cand., UMA Bulletin, November 2007.

A study published yesterday by researchers from from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, from University of North Carolina, and from the Environmental Protection Agency says body mass matters when it comes to smog.

A new study provides the first evidence that people with higher body mass index (BMI) may have a greater response to ozone than leaner people. Short-term exposure to atmospheric ozone has long been known to cause a temporary drop in lung function in many people. This is the first study in humans to look at whether body weight influenced how much lung function falls after acute ozone exposure. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight from other pollutants emitted from vehicles and other sources. Exposure occurs when people inhale air containing ozone.

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analyzed data on young (18–35 years), healthy, non-smoking men and women to see if BMI - a measure of the amount of fat a person has - had an effect on lung response to acute ozone exposure. The study published this month in the journal Inhalation Toxicology found that ozone response was greater with increasing BMI.

• Read the full press release from NIEHS, November 27, 2007.
• Read the abstract. Reference: Bennett WD, Hazucha MJ, Folinsbee LJ, Bromberg PA, Kissling GE, London SJ. Acute Pulmonary Function Response to Ozone in Young Adults as a Function of Body Mass Index. Inhalation Toxicology, 2007 19 (14): 1147-1154.

The new science/research committee is our team of analysts that investigates fundamental questions relating to air pollution. Questions presently on the table include: How much protection from the various air pollutants does staying indoors offer? Does having different emissions test standards for different makes of cars make sense for us from a health perspective? What growth scenarios for Utah could lead us to being less car-dependent? These are just the beginning and we expect that more areas of interest will continue to open up.