Want to keep your heart and lungs healthy? Avoid traffic pollution (?)

The article below is presumably referring to this -- an advocacy article rather than a research report. I regret to say, however, that I find the pronouncements of official bodies unimpressive. The official wisdom is too dogmatic and reverses course too often for any reasonable person to have much faith in it.

At any event, the whole claim is another old chestnut. I have reviewed various research reports making similar claims. And they all fall down by failing to account for social class variables. They fail to note that working class people are much more likely to be exposed to high levels of traffic pollution by reason of their occupation -- truck drivers, white van men etc. And working class people have worse health anyhow. So, given that the effect is small (admitted in the Lancet article), we are almost certainly seeing a class effect rather than a pollution effect

The main trigger for a heart attack is not vigorous exercise or stress — it’s air pollution, according to a study published in The Lancet this month.

Researchers found spending time in traffic, whether as a driver or pedestrian, tops the list of ‘last straw’ risk factors that bring on a heart attack.

Polluted air contains particles of dust and soot less than ten microns wide (one micron is a millionth of a metre) which get into the lungs and cause inflammation.

Jon Ayres, professor of environmental and respiratory medicine at the University of Birmingham, says: ‘Particles raise the risk of respiratory problems and also seem to increase the stickiness of the blood. So, if you’ve got coronary heart disease, it may contribute to causing a heart attack.’

Air pollution is not only linked to strokes, heart attacks and cancer — it has a profound effect on those with existing respiratory conditions. Asthmatics are more likely to have an asthma attack on days when pollution is high.

SOURCE





Imposing minority requirements on the majority again

If something smells funny about this story, you’re not the only one. A group of legislators in Nevada are proposing a bill that would ban air fresheners and candles in public places because, they say, the fragrances can annoy some. But Critics say the bill would lead to stinky rooms and prohibit priests from using candles in Mass.

Las Vegas Democratic Assemblyman Paul Aizley on Monday presented the proposed legislation, which would set restrictions on pesticides, fragrances and candles to accommodate people with chemical sensitivities.

Proponents said air fresheners give them migraines or asthma attacks and prevent them from going to the movies or to restaurants. A cocktail waitress at a casino said inhaling the fragrances piped through the ventilation system felt like a concrete slab on her chest.

Critics counter the bill would affect everything from candlelit restaurants and weddings – not to mention unmasked odors in public bathrooms that would drive away tourists.

The bill, AB 234, specifically “prohibits the use of an ozone generator, any volatile organic compound, any candle or any air additive, including an air fragrance, air freshener or potpourri, in any area of a place of public accommodation which is open to the public.”

SOURCE