Air pollution linked to 3.2 million new diabetes cases in one year

Levels of air pollution well Health and well-being of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization are published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.

In 2016 alone, the study found that air pollution contributed to 3.2 million new diabetes cases -14% of the total – around the world. In the United States, air pollution was linked to 150,000 new cases of diabetes per year.

"There is an undeniable relationship between diabetes and air pollution levels," said senior study author Dr. Ziyad Al -Aly, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University. Many industry lobbying groups argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed. "

Particulate or particulate air pollution is made of microscopic pieces of dust, dirt, smoke and soot mixed with liquid droplets. The endest particles are regulated by the EPA are 2.5 micrometers; to be in perspective, a strand of human hair is 70 micrometers, or more than 30 times larger.

Anything less than 10 micrometers, where it is carried to various

"Ten years ago, we thought that air pollution caused pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, dean for Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, who was not involved in the study. "We now know that air pollution is a very important cause of heart disease and stroke and chronic lung disease, lung cancer and chronic kidney disease."

Over 30 million Americans have diabetes, and the numbers worldwide are staggering: to WHO, 422 million adults had been diagnosed by 2014, compared with 108 million in 1980. Low-and middle-income countries were most likely to experience the most growth.

While obesity, lack of exercise and genetic risk are major drivers for diabetes, studies show a link between the disease and pollution. Air pollution is thought to trigger inflammation and reduce the incidence of pancreas to insulin production.

In this study, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis gathered data on 1.7 million US veterans with no history of diabetes who had been followed for a median of 8½ years. After controlling for allergy and the causes of diabetes, they compared the veterans' levels of diabetes to EPA and NASA.

In veterans exposure to air pollution between 5 and 10 micrograms per year cubic meter of air, much less than the EPA safe level of 12 micrograms, approximately 21% developed diabetes. Being exposed to higher levels, between 11.9 to 13.6 micrograms, 24% developed diabetes. Researchers point out that while 3% increase appears small, it translates into an additional 5,000 to 6,000 new diabetes cases per 100,000 people each year.

Those data, along with information from thousands of studies worldwide, were used to create model to evaluate diabetes risk across various levels. Finally, those data were combined with information from the Global Burden of Disease study, which estimates annual cases of diabetes and healthy living pollution, to estimate risk worldwide.

Poorer countries with few resources to create and maintain clean -air policies, such as India, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Guyana, faced with higher diabetes-pollution risk. Wealthier countries such as France, Finland and Iceland faced a low risk. The US faced a moderate risk

"This is a very well-done report, very believable, and fits well with this emerging knowledge of the impacts of air pollution on a series of chronic diseases," Landrigan said. "

Landrigan is a member of the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, which has been reported to be responsible for the pollution of the environment. Millions of premature deaths worldwide in 2015. That's more than just malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined.

The commission said that 92% of pollution-related deaths occurred in low- and middle -income countries among the minorities and the poor. Children, it said, are especially vulnerable, even to low-dose exposure.