December 13, 2016.
An episode of fine particle air pollution is taking hold in several regions of mainland France. Is this pollution harmful to health?
Short-term health damage
Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Normandy, Grand-Est, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne Franche-Comté… Many regions have exceeded the alert threshold for particle concentration fine in recent days. While air pollution is considered the leading environmental cause of premature death worldwide, it is interesting to wonder about the damage that such an episode can cause to health.
Some will suffer from cough, eye or throat irritation. But it is the weakest people such as babies or the elderly who are most likely to suffer from these pollution peaks: bronchiolitis for infants, respiratory or cardiovascular conditions for sick or elderly people and in some cases death can even occur.
But in the long term too, pollution leaves traces
” In the long term, that is to say beyond a few months, pollution can induce chronic, respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, such as lung cancer or coronary artery disease (myocardial infarction family) », Explains Sylvia Medina, head of the air and health surveillance program at Public Health France, in the columns of the World. ” It also has effects in pregnant women, such as premature births because fine particles can cross the placental barrier. “
In recent days, doctors have observed a significant increase in asthma cases. According to a study conducted by teams from Trousseau and Necker-Cochin hospitals, the number of consultations for asthma in children was higher this year at AP-HP compared to last year: 1,516 patients consulted the pediatric emergency department of the AP-HP in 2015, compared to 2,045 this year, over a period of 7 days.
Read also: Air pollution kills 3 million people every year worldwide
