Claims Of New Global Study: Air Pollution Is Slowly Killing All Of Us All

A broad international study by the Environmental Committee of International Respiratory Society claims that air pollution might be destructing every organ and virtually every cell in the body of humans. This study is published recently in CHEST which is the official publication of the American College of Chest Physicians.

Air pollution poses a major environmental risk to everybody’s health. Outdoor fine particulate matter exposure being the fifth leading risk factor for death in the globe, accounts for 4.2 million deaths and > 103 million disability-adjusted life years lost as per the Global Burden of Disease Report. The World Health Organization allocates 3.8 million additional deaths to indoor air pollution.

Generally manifested by respiratory or cardiac symptoms, air pollution can harm acutely as well as chronically. This potentially affects every organ in the body. It can cause, complicate, or exacerbate various adverse health conditions. Tissue damage may end up directly from pollutant toxicity as fine and ultrafine particles can gain access to human organs, or indirectly with the help of systemic inflammatory processes.

Air pollution affects people of all ages, regions, and social groups and it is likely to affect greater illness in those with heavy exposure and greater susceptibility. People are more vulnerable to air pollution when they have other illnesses or less social support. Harmful effects take place on a continuum of dosage and even at stages below air quality standards which are previously considered to be safe.

Fine Particulate Matter

Most of us, not very long away, had never heard of fine particulate matter, or FPM. This term first appeared in news reports surrounding the cheating scandal of Volkswagen diesel. Emissions of FPM from diesel engines are critical, but they are a byproduct of burning all fossil fuels.

Some fossil fuels create more like coal. Some create less like natural gas. But all create some fine particulates. Be it creating electricity, powering airplanes, or fueling cars, buses, trucks, and trains, fossil fuels fill the atmosphere with crud which is bad for humans to breathe.

Research Is Hard

Research is difficult to do on living human beings. Most conclusions in the report are inferential. For example, when Beijing closed, many of the more egregious sources of air pollution in the run-up to the Olympics in 2008, median birth weights in and around the city raised.

Which makes it easy for fossil fuel apologists for attacking the conclusions of reports like this. People have taken lessons from the tobacco industry. Those who suck on the teat of Koch Industries and the American Petroleum Institute find it very easy to suggest that until an FPM has been conclusively linked to a serious health issue, no action will be taken which would destruct the economic interests of their clients.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://cleantechnica.com/2019/05/17/air-pollution-is-slowly-killing-us-all-new-global-study-claims/