Scrapbook Photo 03/25/24 - 93 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/3729bhvv
Penn State: Research Suggests Today's Air Quality That Meets Current Standards Increases Mortality, Just Like Smoking
Photo

By Kevin Sliman, Penn State News

For years, research has suggested a connection between air pollution and human health issues. Penn State researcher Jeff D. Yanosky searches for those connections.

“I think many people understand that routine tobacco smoking is going to increase their cardiovascular mortality,” said Yanosky, a faculty member in the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. “I don’t think most people appreciate that the quality of the air they breathe is also affecting their cardiovascular mortality—not to the same extent, but it is still a factor.”

In April 2019, the American Lung Association reported that nearly half of Americans, 141.1 million people, lived in areas with unhealthy amounts of air pollution, an increase of more than 7.2 million people since 2018.

This includes both ozone pollution and particle pollution.

Ozone pollution, also known as “smog,” is the result of combustion-related pollutants — such as automobile exhaust — chemically reacting with heat and sunlight. This pollution can cause health issues such as respiratory system irritation, reduced lung function or permanent lung damage.

Particle pollution, also known as “soot” or particulate matter, is primarily what Yanosky studies. It comprises extremely small particles, which are about 1/20 of the width of a human hair. Health issues from particle pollution include respiratory system illnesses such as emphysema, asthma and cancer, as well as cardiovascular illnesses such as heart disease and strokes.

“I work with environmental data sets, mostly on particulate matter, which is the filterable component of air pollution,” said the College of Medicine associate professor of epidemiology. “It is essentially a metric of how smokey the air is.”

According to Yanosky, the sources of most air pollution are typically combustion related. These sources can be as large as coal-fueled power plants and as small as automobiles and home heating appliances.

“The U.S. government operates a nationwide network of air quality monitors and makes that data available publicly,” Yanosky said. “Researchers like myself download and process that data and link it with health studies of various outcomes.”

Yanosky generally performs air pollution modeling for large epidemiologic studies. That data is used to examine a defined population in order to estimate air pollution exposure levels over a certain time period.

This can be done retrospectively, learning how past exposures have affected people’s health, or prospectively, estimating current and future health burdens and trends according to existing data.

“One of the principal things I have been pleased with as I have developed these models, and one of the things that continues to motivate me to do so, is that by comparing health effect estimates using modeled exposures with previous methods of matching to the nearest air pollution monitor, you get a clearer picture of what is going on with health impacts,” he said. “Sometimes you see health impacts that you couldn’t previously see.”

For example, within the past decade, there have been numerous studies that suggest a connection between air pollution and cognitive decline. Additionally, Yanosky has been involved with research that suggests connections between pregnancy outcomes and air pollution, such as low birth weight.

“Essentially from before birth to death, the quality of the air you breathe is impacting your health,” he said. “People have hypothesized that air pollution affects multiple processes in the body that affect inflammation and oxidative stress, which is an imbalance in the body’s protection against oxidation that can lead to high-blood pressure, diabetes and many other health endpoints.”

Yanosky said there is plenty of research that suggests the air-quality levels in the United States, even at their current levels, are affecting people’s health.

“When these studies are properly designed, we find evidence that the quality of environment and the quality of our air affects our long-term health in many ways,” he said.

(Reprinted from Penn State News.)

NewsClips:

Don Hopey: Allegheny County Seeks New Air Quality Regulations To Combat Unhealthy Smog

Fearing Climate Change, Worse Air Quality, Allegheny County To Impose New Pollution Regulations

Allegheny County Launches Efforts To Combat Weather-Related Air Pollution Events 

Environmentalists, Concerned Citizens To Lobby Allegheny County For Tougher Action On Air Pollution

Erie Coke (Coal) Plant Says Finances Were Ailing Before Shutdown

Op-Ed: Erie Coke (Coal) Plant Saga Ends Abruptly

What Is A Temperature Inversion And How Does It Affect Air Quality?

New Members Will Cause Culture Shock On Allegheny County Council

GASP: Federal Judge Grants Class Certification Pitting Investors Against U.S. Steel Over Stock Price Decline

250+ PA Environment & Energy NewsClips From Last Week Waiting To Be Read

Related Article:

DEP Hosts Hearings [If Needed] On RACT II Air Quality Plans For Facilities In Erie, Venango, Warren, York Counties

[Posted: January 2, 2019]


1/6/2020

Go To Preceding Article     Go To Next Article

Return to This PA Environment Digest's Main Page