Low levels of air pollution increase the risk of disease, a study has found

Long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution can increase the risk of heart and lung disease, a new U.S. study reveals.

Researchers used the addresses of 63 million U.S. adults ages 65 and older to assess their exposure to granular material, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3).

Contamination exposure was then compared to whether they progressed to heart attack, stroke, atrial fibrillation and pneumonia.

Worryingly, long-term exposure to all three pollutants at low concentrations – under international regulations – was consistently associated with an increased risk of all four conditions.

In all forms, air pollution can damage the cardiovascular and respiratory systems due to its impact on inflammation in the heart and throughout the body.

The study’s authors say people should be aware of air quality in their neighborhoods to avoid harmful exposure over long periods of time.

London ‘s air quality, for example, is at illegal levels and is the worst air quality in the country.

‘Long-term exposure to air pollution was associated with an increased risk of hospital admission with cardiovascular and respiratory outcomes on an add-on scale among the elderly population of the United States,’ said the researchers, who from Harvard Public School TH No Health in Boston.

‘Each unit saw an increase in levels of granular material, nitrogen dioxide and ozone associated with thousands of additional entries per year.

Air pollution should be considered as a risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

‘The risk is even at levels below national and international guidelines.’

For their study, researchers examined hospital records of more than 63 million Medicare registrants in the U.S. from 2000 to 2016.

The study measured three components of air pollution – particles 2.5 micrometres and below in diameter (PM2.5), NO2 and O3.

Specialty material, or PM, comes from a number of places, including vehicle burrows, construction sites, industrial activity or even domestic stoves and ovens – and is already linked to premature death in people with heart or lung disease.

NO2, which comes from burning diesel and petrol in car engines, clogs the lung lining and reduces immunity from lung diseases while exacerbating respiratory problems.

O3, meanwhile, is a secondary pollutant created when sunlight and high temperatures catalyze a chemical reaction in the low atmosphere.

When ingested, O3 reacts chemically with many biological molecules in the respiratory tract, causing lung and heart disease.

Using hundreds of predictors, including epidemiological values, satellite measurement and land use to estimate daily pollution levels, researchers described what the study participants revealed to the polluters based on their resident zip code.

Further analysis included the effect of annual average amounts of each of the pollutants on hospitalization rates for non-fatal heart attacks, ischemic strokes, atrial fibrillation and flutter, and pneumonia.

Statistical analyzes found that thousands of hospital admissions were due to air pollution each year.

Long-term association with PM2.5 fine was associated with an increased risk of the four health outcomes – heart attacks, strokes, atrial fibrillation and flutter, and pneumonia.

PM2.5 had the greatest effect on strokes – there was a 0.0091 percent increase in stroke risk for every 1-µg / m3 (microgram per cubic meter of air) increase in annual rates.

Data also showed that there was an increase in hospital admissions for all health outcomes examined with each additional unit of increase in a particular substance.

Notably, stroke rates increased by 2,536 for each additional ug / m3 increase in granular material per year.

There was an increased risk of stroke and atrial fibrillation associated with long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide.

NO2 was associated with an increased risk of admission with 0.00059 percent stroke and atrial fibrillation by 0.00129 percent, per part per billion (PPB).

Tropospheric ozone was associated with an increased risk of admission with pneumonia by 0.00413 percent per PPB.

Pneumonia was the only health outcome in the study that appeared to be affected by long – term exposure to ozone (O3) – which causes smoky smoke that can damage the lungs.

However, researchers note that there are currently no national guidelines indicating long-term safe or dangerous ozone levels.

The team also looked specifically at individuals who were only exposed to lower concentrations of air pollution – less than 10 µg / m3 for PM2.5, less than 20 PPB for NO2 and less than 40 PPB for O3 for each year.

‘We found we were still at greater risk for hospital admission with all the results observed, even at collection rates below normal national standards,’ said lead study author Danesh Yazdi.

‘More than half of the study population is exposed to low levels of these pollutants, by US standards.

Therefore, the long-term effects of these pollutants should be of great concern to all, including policy makers, clinicians and patients. ‘

The researchers further stratified the analyzes to work out the cardiovascular and respiratory risks associated with each contamination among patient subgroups including gender, race or ethnicity, age and factors. socio-economic.

The results were changed to contaminated – for PM2.5, older patients had a higher risk of admission compared to younger patients, and whites had a higher risk of admission compared to black people. .

For NO2, blacks were at higher risk than whites, and for O3, males and younger had a higher probability of being admitted to hospital with a heart attack compared to females and older.

The reason in the study could only be explained and has not been conclusively confirmed, according to the researchers.

This was due to the limited availability of data, which may not have included other cardiovascular disease risk factors.

In addition, coding errors can occur in the Medicare database, which could affect the analytics.

The study was published in Circulation.