Air pollution can affect bone health

A recent study in India has found an association between exposure to air pollution and poor bone health.

Osteoporosis is a disease in which the density and quality of the bone are reduced. Globally, it is responsible for a substantial burden of disease and its prevalence is expected to increase due to ageing of the population.

The new study analysed the association between air pollution and bone health in over 3,700 people from 28 villages outside the city of Hyderabad, in southern India.

The authors used a locally-devveloped model toestimate outdoor exposure at residence to air pollution by fine particulate matter ( suspended particles with a diameter of 2.5 mm or less) and black carbon. The participants also filled a questionnaire on the type of fuel used for cooking.

The authors linked this information with bone health assessed using a special type of radiography that measures bone density, called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and measured bone mass at the lumbar spine and the left hip.

The results showed that exposure to ambient air pollution, particularly to fine particles, was associated with lower levels of bone mass. No correlation was found with the use of biomass fuel for cooking.

This study contributes to the limited and inconclusive literature on air pollution and bone health, explains a researcher. Regarding the possible mechanisms underlying this association, he says " inhalation of polluting particles could lead to bone mass loss through the oxidative stress and inflammation caused by air pollution".

Annual average exposure to ambient PM 2.5 was 32.8mg/m3, far above the maximum levels recommended by the WHO ( 10mg/m3). 58% of participants used biomass fuel for cooking.

Our findings add to a growing body of evidence that indicates that particulate air pollution is relevant for bone health across a wide range of air pollution levels, including levels found in high income and low-and-medium-income countries, says the researcher.

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Traffic exhaust found to increase risk of stroke

As the number of vehicles on roads is on a rise, so is the traffic. And this can elevate an individual's risk of getting a stroke even in low-pollution environments.

Yes, high levels of traffic exhaust at one's residence increases the risk of stroke, according to a study.

Researchers in the study suggested that it is mainly black carbon from traffic exhaust responsible for causing stroke and not particulate meter emanating from other sources.

Black carbon is the sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, coal-fired power plants and other fuels. In city environments, emissions come mainly from road traffic.

These particles have previously been linked to negative health effects, especially in studies of heavily polluted environments.

Researchers have shown that long-term exposure to traffic exhaust at the residential address increases the risk of stroke in Swedish towns.

This study identifies local traffic exhaust as a risk factor for stroke, a common disease with great human suffering, high mortality and significant costs to society, said a lead researcher.

We see that these emissions have consequences even in low-pollution environments, he added.

Researchers followed 115,000 middle-aged healthy individuals living in 3 big cities of Sweden over a period of 20 years.

During this time, some 3,100 of the people suffered a stroke.

With the help of dispersion models and emission inventories, the researchers were able to estimate how much different local emission sources, including from traffic exhaust, road wear and residential heating, contributed to particulate matter and black carbon at specific addresses in these cities.

They found that for every 0.3 mcg per cubic meter ( mg/m3) of black carbon from traffic exhaust, the risk of stroke increased by 4 %.

Similar associations were not seen for black carbon emitted from residential heating or for particulate matter in general, neither from inhalable particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less )PM10) or from particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5).

Black carbon from  traffic exhaust could be an important measure to consider when assessing air quality and health consequences, he opined.

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Traffic pollution to an increased risk of asthma in children

A recent research has found yet more evidence to suggest that there is a strong link between traffic pollution and asthma in young children.

Led by various scientists , the study analyzed data from 1,522 children to assess the effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on asthma.

The children’s mothers were already enrolled in a long-term study, which gave the researchers access to comprehensive medical, socio-economic and demographic information, including their residential address history.

The team also used mapping technologies to measure the distance between each child’s home address and the nearest major roadway, and calculated the children’s daily exposure to fine particulate matter.
Also known as PM 2.5, fine particulate matter are tiny particles suspended in the air measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller. When inhaled, these small particles, which come from fuel combustion, including traffic and power plants, deposit in the lungs.

In addition, the team also looked at the children’s daily exposure to soot, a component of fine PM also known as black carbon, which originates from incompletely burned fossil fuels which from car engines (especially diesel) and power plants.

The results showed that living close to a major road was linked to childhood asthma in all ages examined in the study, with the team finding that children living less than 100 meters from a major road were nearly three times more likely to experience asthma symptoms or use asthma medications daily by ages seven to 10, compared with those who lived more than 400 meters away.

In addition, the team also found that lifetime exposure to black carbon and fine PM were also linked to the asthma in early childhood (ages three to five years).

“Younger children spend a larger proportion of their time at home than school-aged children, and their airways are smaller and may be more likely to wheeze in response to pollution,” commented corresponding author. “This may explain why pollution exposure was most consistently linked to asthma in young children.”

However the team were surprised to find that in mid-childhood (ages seven to 10 years), these pollutants were associated with asthma only among girls, with the author adding that, “Future work will need to investigate whether girls are more susceptible to pollution than boys.”

A French study published just last month also found that long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution can increase the risk of asthma symptoms in adults, while previous research has also found that children exposed to coarse particulate matter, which is larger than fine particulate matter, are more likely to develop asthma and need hospital care than children who are unexposed.

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