Study on the multiplicity of the effects of 12 air pollutants on health

SALT LAKE CITY – A recent study, one of the first of its kind, involved a dozen major air pollutants and their links to emergency room or doctor visits in five major cities.

Unsurprisingly, the study published this month in Environment International revealed an increased risk of adverse health effects, due to increased exposure to all pollution sources. .

The study by Jenna R. Krall of George Mason University, however, found that secondary pollutants – those that result from chemical reactions in the air – could play a greater role in heart disease or respiratory diseases. than most research points out.

In addition to Mason, researchers from Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Pittsburgh have examined concentrations of 12 pollutants in Atlanta, Dallas, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Birmingham, Alabama, over a period of several years.

The research period generally began in 2002 and was completed in 2008; it involved obtaining consent from individual patients for the slaughter of over 1.8 million billing records.

The researchers examined data on air pollution of primary pollutants and chemical components such as sulphates, nitrates and ammonium from ambient monitoring stations in each of the five metropolitan areas.

The key question at the heart of the research was what happened to people during short-term exposure to these pollutants and whether there was an increased risk of medical treatment for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, etc.

The researchers found that many previous studies used a framework composed of a single pollutant.

"Most of the previous studies on air pollution and cardio-respiratory visits (emergency departments) are single-city studies that examine only a few pollutants or some specific results." , said the research.

This study developed a multi-aspect model that treated each pollutant individually, without attempting to identify individual sources of pollution.

They found that in all five cities, the number of days with complete pollution data and emergency room visits ranged from 1,096 days in Dallas to 2,557 days in Atlanta.

The study highlighted the complexity of the research, with its variable results, its statistical uncertainty in some cases and its limited regional focus focusing on the southeast.

Bryce Bird, director of the Air Quality Division of Utah, said that he was unaware of any studies being conducted in Utah pertaining to this range of pollutants and any correlation between these visits and visits to the emergency.

Local research focuses mainly on Utah's lead, PM2.5, as a pollutant indicator, he said.

"For us, it would be difficult to control, they (the other pollutants) increase in concentration when the lid is open, but we do not see these high concentrations if we do not see the PM2.5."

The majority of Northerners in Utah are not in compliance with federal clean air standards for PM2.5, fine particles. These pollution particles have a size equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers – 3% of the diameter of a human hair – and are small enough to invade even the smallest airways.

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In recent years, Utah legislators have allocated funds to the Air Quality Division and university researchers for local studies that study PM2.5 pollution issues. along the Wasatch front and bring better solutions to the problem of ozone in eastern Utah.

According to Bird, if it is difficult to separate what is happening in a reversal of Utah with respect to PM2.5 compared to other pollutants, research in the southeastern United States could be useful in the future.

"It would help us in the future to identify strategies to improve health by improving the quality of the air and determining the exact mechanism that causes damage," he said.