Air pollution has been shown to adversely affect health, with reports that it negatively affects cardiovascular and neurological health, as well as impinges on the well-being of diabetic patients.

Given these potential harms to public health, the Environmental Committee of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies in Lausanne, Switzerland, carried out an investigation to determine the impact of pollution reducing interventions on public health.

The research team looked at air pollution interventions across the United States, Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. One of the key findings of the study is that in Ireland, the banning of smoking, led to a 13 percent reduction in mortality from any cause, a 26 percent drop in the occurrence of ischemic heart disease, as well as a 32 percent drop in cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In the US state of Utah, the shutting down of a steel mill for 13 months saw the number of patients admitted in local hospitals for pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchitis, and asthma, drop significantly during the period of shut-down, especially among children. Closing the steel mill also cut school absenteeism by 40 percent and reduced daily mortality. Shutting down the steel mill for just 13 months halved the concentration of pollutants in the air.

Also, for every 100 micrograms (μg)/cubic meters (m3) of air pollutants, closing the mill resulted in a 16 percent reduction in deaths.

Finally, women who were pregnant during the shutdown were far less likely to have premature births than those who were pregnant before or after it. This was especially true of women who were in their second trimester during the closure.

Another instance examined by the report was the ‘alternative transportation strategy’ that was implemented in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, during the Summer Olympics held in the US in 1996. As part of this intervention, the city closed off parts of its downtown to private cars and replaced them with public transport and other telecommuting options to help visitors and athletes travel to their events more efficiently. The result was a 28 percent drop in peak daily ozone concentrations.

Four weeks after the closure, US Medicaid records showed a 42 percent drop in hospital visits related to childhood asthma. Pediatric visits to the emergency department saw an 11 percent drop, and overall hospitalizations related to asthma fell by 19 percent.

A similar phenomenon occurred in China during the 2008 Olympic games. Factory and travel restrictions issued by the government from July to late September led to a drop of up to 62 percent in air pollutant concentrations.

Asthma-related hospital visits also dropped by 58 percent during the two-month government intervention. Rates of cardiovascular mortality — particularly among women and older adults — also fell, as did inflammation among young, healthy adults.

The Swiss study concludes that air pollution is a largely avoidable health risk that affects everyone. Urban growth, expanding industrialization, global warming, and new knowledge of the harm of air pollution are among the factors that raise the degree of urgency for pollution control and stresses the consequences of inaction. Fortunately, reducing air pollution can result in prompt and substantial health gains.

Everyone is aware that there are benefits from pollution control, however, the magnitude and relatively short time needed to accomplish impressive results is underlined by the study, which urges governments to urgently enforce World Health Organization guidelines on air pollution.


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