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Want to know how much the air we breathe is polluted? New research has revealed that this can be as harmful to your lungs as a pack of cigarettes a day. The new data could explain why more non-smokers suffer from lung problems traditionally associated with smoking.
This last study focused specifically on emphysema, a disease that destroys air sacs in the lungs; it can cause wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, as well as an increased risk of death.
The researchers found that higher levels of air pollutants in cities, especially ozone, could cause progression of emphysema as quickly as one could have. wait there while smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.
"The rates of chronic lung disease in this country are increasing and there is growing recognition that this disease affects nonsmokers," said physician epidemiologist Joel Kaufman of the University of Washington.
"We really need to understand the cause of chronic lung disease and it appears that common and difficult-to-avoid air pollution exposures could be a major factor."
It was also a large study covering 7,071 participants between 2000 and 2018 in six US metropolitan areas: Chicago, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Baltimore, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Minnesota, and New York. York. The data were extracted from analysis of the air and lungs in the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA).
Having a higher ambient ozone level of only 3 parts per billion (ppb) than that of another region, over 10 years, is comparable in terms of progression from emphysema to that of smoking a packet of cigarettes a day for 29 years, revealed the study. On average, ozone levels in the six study areas ranged from 10 to 25 ppb.
"We were surprised at how much the impact of air pollution on the progression of emphysema on lung scanners was important, as was smoking, which is by far the most well-known cause of emphysema, "said Kaufman.
And ground level ozone is increasing, it is produced when pollutants from fossil fuels react with ultraviolet light. Although ozone is a useful barrier against UV in high atmospheres, we do not want to inhale it on the ground.
In itself, a link between air pollution and health problems is nothing new – the bad air is obviously bad for us – but this study really points out how much we can cause damage to our body in Breathing air of cities.
The researchers say that it is the first longitudinal study examining the long-term effects of air pollutants on the percentage of emphysema, using a large group of people multi-ethnic and community-based . The data included in the study included detailed readings of air pollution among many participants, as well as more than 15,000 CT scans.
There is some good news: according to the study, the pollutant particle concentrations in the air actually drop in the United States, although the ozone counteracts this trend.
Other statistics are less encouraging, with the World Health Organization recently reporting that the majority of children in the world breathe dangerously polluted air and that pollution is linked to a growing number of health problems.
"As temperatures rise with climate change, ground-level ozone will continue to increase unless steps are taken to reduce this pollutant," said epidemiologist Graham Barr, of the "Hurricane". Columbia University in New York. "But we do not know what level of air pollutants, if any, is safe for human health."
The search was published in JAMA.
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