Study suggests that reducing air pollution results in almost immediate benefits to human health. Details of this work have been published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society
Air pollution studies generally focus on negative health consequences. We know, for example, that pollution weakens the immune system over several generations and that it is a triggering and aggravating factor in asthma. It is also linked to bipolar disorder and depression. Recently, we learned that the finest particles can reach the placenta during pregnancy, possibly affecting infants.
What this new study tells us is that reducing air pollution can have immediate positive consequences on our health.
To illustrate these conclusions, this new report from the Environment Committee of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) details several examples.
“Some of the effects are quite striking “Explains Dr. Dean Schraufnagel, lead author of the study. He cites in particular the 1996 Summer Olympics, during which the city of Atlanta favored public transport and closed certain parts of the city to cars. As a result, it reads, daily ozone levels have dropped by 28% , and at least for a month the number of children hospitalized for asthma attacks fell by more than 40% .
Same observation in Beijing in 2008 after restrictions put in place to limit car traffic in the city center. Air pollution levels, again, had dropped. As a result, visits to the doctor for asthma problems have decreased. There were also significantly fewer deaths by heart disease or stroke.
The report also cites examples of smoking bans in public bars in 2004 in Ireland. Soon after, the rates of stroke and heart disease also plummeted. So did hospitalizations for respiratory problems in the Utah Valley following the closure of a steel mill for 13 months. Shortly after it reopened, those admissions immediately rebounded.
These are just examples, but the main message is:“pollution affects the heart, the kidneys, the brain. It is associated with higher risks of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia and many cancers , explains the researcher. But if you stop pollution at its source, the health effects will be felt immediately .
Of course, the examples cited above are exceptional. It's not about banning cars in every city center or close all the factories. But we could reduce the health effects of pollution in several other ways. “A coal plant could switch to natural gas, for example , explains Dean Schraufnagel. Or old diesel-powered buses can be replaced with "cleaner" buses running on natural gas or electricity .
Then inevitably arises the question of money, generally considered to be the main obstacle to these metamorphoses. But then again, the report notes, cleaner air appears to be more beneficial.
Researchers take the Clean Air Act as an example of the United States, enacted in 1970. This law is deemed to have reduced emissions of air pollutants. After the introduction of this law, we can read, the gross domestic product (GDP) continued to grow in the country. The "monetized" benefits of the law (decreased number of pollution-related deaths) would have even exceeded the costs by a factor of 32 to 1 .
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