'Controlling emissions will provide the greatest benefit to all,' says an assessment of recently published research.
Air pollution negatively affects every stage of human life, from impairing fetal development and physical as well as intellectual growth during childhood to accelerating bodily and cognitive decline in adulthood., released Monday by the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London , which synthesizes the findings of more than 35,000 studies on the connections between air pollution and ill health published over the past decade by scientists from around the globe.
"While headline figures on the health impact of air pollution focus on the equivalent number of premature deaths, the wider impacts are hiding in plain sight in the contribution of air pollution to the burden of chronic diseases," the report continues."These affect our quality of life and have a large cost to society through additional health and social care costs, as well our ability to learn, work, and contribute to society.
There is mounting evidence that exposure to air pollution hinders children's lung growth. A study on primary school-aged children in inner-city London, for example, found that"on average a child had lost around 5% of their expected lung volume because of the air pollution that they breathed," the report says."This effect was most clearly linked with exposure to NO2, which is often used as a tracer for... diesel exhaust emissions.
Furthermore, diesel exhaust, outdoor air pollution, and airborne particulate matter have been classified as human carcinogens, with researchers especially concerned about the development of lung cancer, including in people who have never smoked. As ICL's assessment of recent research warns:"The focus on achieving current limits can lead to actions on the most polluted places but provides little incentive to drive down air pollution in other locations. It can also be a barrier to progress when limits are set according to their achievability in the most polluted places."
"While headline figures on the health impact of air pollution focus on the equivalent number of premature deaths, the wider impacts are hiding in plain sight in the contribution of air pollution to the burden of chronic diseases." The negative impacts of air pollution on reproductive health are not limited to expectant mothers, as recent research highlights adverse effects on semen volume along with sperm concentration and mobility.Following birth,"childhood and adolescence are periods of rapid growth during which organ systems are particularly susceptible to developmental impairment and damage," states the report.
Exposure to air pollution is associated with deteriorated cardiac health and increased rates of heart disease, hospitalization, and death. In addition, there is"increasingly compelling evidence" that air pollution exposure increases the risk of stroke and ensuing hospitalization and mortality, says the report. Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution has also been linked to adult-onset asthma and other respiratory problems.
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