[ RadSafe ] More air pollution body bags?

[Muckerheide, James]

Friends,

 

This reports on another study of air pollution health effects.  We need to
review the Nov paper to see if demographic and other confounding effects are
adequately incorporated.

 

Regards, Jim Muckerheide

======================


Los Angeles study finds higher pollution death risk


Reuters 


Sep 27, 2005 - By Kevin Krolicki

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The risk of dying from air pollution in parts of
traffic-clogged Los Angeles appears sharply higher than previously believed,
according to a study comparing the risks of living in affluent, beachfront
neighborhoods to the hazy and fast-growing inland area. 

The study was a first to attempt to look at how chronic health problems are
linked to the degree of pollution across the neighborhoods of a major U.S.
city, lead author, Michael Jerrett said.

The study, which will be published in the November issue of Epidemiology,
found the risk of death rose by 11 to 17 percent from the cleanest parts of
Los Angeles to the most polluted areas of Riverside and San Bernardino
counties to the east. 

The risk of fatal heart disease rose by between 25 percent to 39 percent as
the concentration of fine particles in the neighborhood's air rose by a
measure of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the study showed. 

Data from monitoring sites within Los Angeles show that the concentration of
such airborne particles - tiny specks of solids and droplets of acids and
other chemicals - rises by almost 20 micrograms per cubic meter as commuters
head east from L.A.'s wealthier, westside neighborhoods. 

Los Angeles, infamous for its smog and traffic congestion, is ringed by
mountains that help trap pollution in a basin that is home to over 13 million
people. 

Previous research has concentrated on how the health risks from pollution
differ from one city to the next, broad measurements that have been used to
set air quality standards, said Jerrett, a professor at USC's Keck School of
Medicine. 

Scientists believe the smallest particles of pollution pose the greatest
health risk since they sink deep into the lungs and enter the blood, causing
inflammation and a thickening of artery walls that can prompt heart attacks
and strokes. 

"It's what we can't see that is most dangerous to us," Jerrett said. 

The study, based on an analysis of data on almost 23,000 people tracked by
the American Cancer Society, also found that the risk of death from diabetes
almost doubled in the more polluted areas of Southern California.