Health Toll of Air Pollution

Short-term exposure to fine-particle air pollution, particulates measuring 2.5 microns or less, has been linked to spikes in hospitalizations among older men and women, for causes ranging from pneumonia to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Chronic long-term exposure to fine-particle air pollution is also suspected to be an under-recognized health concern.  Joel D. Schwartz, from Harvard University (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues engaged a  model using satellite data to predict short- and long-term exposure to small particulate matter in the atmosphere in the New England region of the United States.  The team found increased hospitalizations for respiratory causes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes, with the increases in hospitalizations for each of the conditions being at the highest for long-term exposure. Specifically, for each 10 microgram/m3 increase in short-term exposure to fine airborne particulate matter, there was a 0.70% increase in hospital admissions for respiratory illness among patients 65 and older, and for each 10 microgram/m3 increase in long-term exposure, there was a 4.22% increase in respiratory hospitalizations.  The study authors warn that: “Chronic exposure to particles is associated with substantially larger increases in hospital admissions than acute exposure.”