1er June 2006 – In people with heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exposure to air pollution increases their risk of dying from their disease by 22% to 32% . This is what researchers at Harvard University conclude.
According to data made public at a recent American Thoracic Society symposium1, an increase of just 10 micrograms of fine particles per meter3 air, over a period of one or two years, resulted in more deaths in people with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, or inflammatory disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Fine particles are dust and microscopic droplets suspended in the air. They can come from the exhaust of motor vehicles, heating systems, thermal power stations or industrial installations where various materials are burned or crushed. The concentration rates of these particles vary according to the intensity of industrial and domestic activity as well as climatic conditions. In North America, meteorological services accumulate daily data on their concentration in the air2.
The team of researchers followed, for 15 years, four cohorts of patients suffering from diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or inflammatory disorders. They were able to demonstrate that, in a given region, the increase in the concentration of fine particles corresponded to an increase in the number of deaths among the cohorts studied.
Their results even indicate an increase in the number of deaths corresponding to days of high concentrations of fine particles, according to daily air quality readings, carried out by public authorities.
According to lead researcher Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, there is no longer any doubt that this form of air pollution causes many deaths among susceptible populations each year.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to The New York Times.
1. Zanobetti A, Schwartz J. Multi-City Survival Analysis in Susceptible Populations. Presentation at an American Thoracic Society Symposium, United States, May 22, 2006.
2. In Quebec, the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs provides daily data on air quality. See Air Quality Index (AQI) on its website: www.iqa.mddep.gouv.qc.ca [consulté le 1er juin2006]
