Scientists say Chinese Bats are the origin of the SARS pandemic

 SARS (black dots) surrounding a cell. 

A team of international scientists has isolated a very close relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS) from horseshoe bats in China, confirming them as the origin of the virus responsible for the 2002-3 pandemic.

SARS killed 774 people of the 8094 people infected, a case fatality ratio of almost 10 per cent. With cases diagnosed across the world, the pandemic had a major impact on international travel and trade.

While researchers globally have previously used genetic sequencing to demonstrate that bats are the natural reservoirs of a SARS-like virus, this is the first time that live virus has been successfully isolated from bats to definitively confirm them as the origin of the virus.

Horseshoe bats are found around the world, and play an important ecological role. The scientists say that their role in SARS-CoV transmission highlights the importance of protecting the bat’s natural environment so they are not forced into highly populated urban areas in search of food.

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(Image: Sandra Crameri, CSIRO)
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Hope of new treatment for severe asthma patients resistant to corticosteroids

New research from Japan brings hope of a new treatment for asthma patients resistant to corticosteroids.

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences and Keio University in Japan report that a type of lymphocytes called natural helper (NH) cells plays a critical role in corticosteroid resistance and demonstrate that the anti-psychotic drug Pimozide can be used to overcome resistance to steroids in severe asthma patients.

Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by a persistent inflammation of the airways. The condition can be controlled with a moderate dose of inhaled corticosteroids in most patients. However, 5-10% of patients with "severe asthma" respond poorly to a maximal dose of steroids. These patients experience uncontrolled and frequent asthma symptoms that have a profound impact on their quality of life and health care costs. Unveiling the mechanism leading to steroid resistance in these patients is therefore crucial for the development of a new, effective therapy. ​
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Yoga can "significantly" improve COPD symptoms, say researchers

Photo: Ambro/freedigitalphotos.net

Patients with COPD who practice yoga can improve their lung function, according to a study by researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The study, found that lung function, shortness of breath, and inflammation all showed significant improvement after patients completed 12 weeks of training.

An estimated 24 million Americans may have COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. Patients with COPD have trouble pushing used air out of their lungs, making it difficult to take in healthy new air. Although there is no cure for COPD, a patient’s quality of life can be improved by controlling symptoms, such as shortness of breath. COPD, most commonly caused by cigarette smoking, affects both men and women, and often, symptoms are seen in people in their 40s.

“COPD is a systemic inflammatory disease that causes difficulty breathing,” said study presenter Randeep Guleria, MD, professor and head, department of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorders. “We investigated to see whether simple, structured yoga training affects the level of inflammation, shortness of breath, and quality of life in patients with stable COPD.”

The study included 29 stable patients with COPD who received yoga training in a format that included the use of physical postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), cleansing techniques, (kriyas), meditation, and a relaxation technique (shavasan) for 1 hour, twice a week, for 4 weeks. Following the 4-week period, patients were trained for 1 hour every 2 weeks, with the remaining sessions completed at home. Patients were evaluated on assessment of lung function, breathing, quality of life, and inflammation status. A repeat assessment was done at the end of the 12-week training session. All parameters showed significant improvement at the end of the 12-week period.

“We found that yoga can be a simple, cost-effective method that can help improve quality of life in patients with COPD,” stated Dr. Guleria.

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Smoking Long or Ultra-long Cigarettes Increases Risk of Lung Cancer

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Smokers of long or ultralong cigarettes are at greater risk for lung and oral cancer than smokers of regular and king-size cigarettes, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Global Tobacco Control.

“We found that of smokers of long or ultralong cigarettes have higher concentrations of tobacco specific carcinogens in their urine than smokers of regular or king size cigarettes,” said Constantine Vardavas, MD, senior research scientist, Harvard School of Public Health.

Vardavas and colleagues compared urine tests among 3,699 smokers of regular, king-sized and long or ultralong cigarettes using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 2007-2010. Smokers of king-sized cigarettes accounted for 53% of total smokers, smokers of long or ultralong cigarettes constituted 31.5%, and smokers of regular-sized cigarettes made up the remaining 15.4% of the smoker population. They found that smokers of long or ultralong cigarettes had significantly higher levels of NNAL—an indicator of tobacco-specific carcinogen—in their urine. In addition, researchers found that older smokers, non-Hispanic blacks, and females had a greater tendency to smoke long or ultralong cigarettes.

“While the significant risks of smoking are well known and accepted, very little information exists on the health risks of different sizes of cigarettes,” said Darcy Marciniuk, MD, FCCP and President of the ACCP. “This study indicates that there is an added risk to those smoking long and ultralong cigarettes.”

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PVC flooring linked to asthma in children

A new study has found that Children exposed to PVC flooring are more likely to develop asthma during the following 10 year period.

There are also indications that PVC flooring in the parents’ bedrooms were actually more strongly associated with the new cases of asthma when compared with child's own bedroom. This could be an indication that the children were exposed in the womb as well.

Soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC) includes phthalates that normally are released to the surrounding environment. Phthalates is a group of chemicals with suspected endocrine disrupting properties that may impact on several chronic diseases/disorders such as asthma and allergy. The current study was aimed to investigate if PVC-flooring in the home of children in the age of 1-5 years was associated with the development of asthma in 5-year and 10-year follow-up investigations.

The Dampness in Buildings and Health (DBH) study started in the year of 2000 with a questionnaire to the parents of more than 14,000 children (1-5 years of age) in Värmland, Sweden, with responses from almost 11,000 children corresponding to a response rate of 79%. In this baseline questionnaire we screened for health in the family, lifestyles, building characteristics, etc. In 2005 we made a first 5 year follow up study and 2010 we made a second 10 year follow up, i.e., the data for the current study. The major interest in the follow up studies was to identify children that had developed asthma and other allergic diseases during the period after the baseline investigation.

Children who had PVC floorings in the bedroom were more likely to develop doctor diagnosed asthma during the following 10 years period when compared with children living without such flooring material. The risk was in several cases more than doubled. Furthermore, there were indications that PVC flooring in the parents’ bedrooms were stronger associated with the new cases of doctor diagnosed asthma when compared with child's bedroom. This could be an indication that prenatal exposure is of importance.

The scientists previously found that PVC flooring material is a source for phthalates found in indoor air, specifically in household dust. This exposure can be associated with eczema and asthma in children.

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Heavy air pollution, male cancer spikes found downwind of “Industrial Heartland”

Isobel Simpson / UC Irvine

Levels of contaminants higher than in some of the world’s most polluted cities have been found downwind of Canada’s largest oil, gas and tar sands processing zone, in a rural area where men suffer elevated rates of cancers linked to such chemicals.

The findings by UC Irvine and University of Michigan scientists, published online this week, reveal high levels of the carcinogens 1,3-butadiene and benzene and other airborne pollutants. The researchers also obtained health records spanning more than a decade that showed the number of men with leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was greater in communities closest to the pollution plumes than in neighboring counties. The work is a dramatic illustration of a new World Health Organization report that outdoor air pollution is a leading cause of cancer.

While the scientists stopped short of saying that the pollutants they documented were definitely causing the male cancers, they strongly recommended that the industrial emissions be decreased to protect both workers and nearby residents.

“Our study was designed to test what kinds of concentrations could be encountered on the ground during a random visit downwind of various facilities. We’re seeing elevated levels of carcinogens and other gases in the same area where we’re seeing excess cancers known to be caused by these chemicals,” said UC Irvine chemist Isobel Simpson, lead author of the paper in Atmospheric Environment. “Our main point is that it would be good to proactively lower these emissions of known carcinogens. You can study it and study it, but at some point you just have to say, ‘Let’s reduce it.’ ”

Co-author Stuart Batterman, a University of Michigan professor of environmental health sciences, agreed: “These levels, found over a broad area, are clearly associated with industrial emissions. They also are evidence of major regulatory gaps in monitoring and controlling such emissions and in public health surveillance.”

The researchers captured emissions in the rural Fort Saskatchewan area downwind of major refineries, chemical manufacturers and tar sands processors owned by BP, Dow, Shell and other companies in the so-called “Industrial Heartland” of Alberta. They took one-minute samples at random times in 2008, 2010 and 2012. All showed similar results. Amounts of some dangerous volatile organic compounds were 6,000 times higher than normal.

The team compared the Alberta plumes to heavily polluted megacities. To their surprise, the scientists saw that levels of some chemicals were higher than in Mexico City during the 1990s or in the still polluted Houston-Galveston area.

Simpson is part of UC Irvine’s Blake-Rowland Group, which has measured air pollution around the world for decades. She and Batterman said the findings were important for other residential areas downwind of refineries and chemical manufacturers, including parts of Los Angeles.

“For any community downwind of heavy industrial activity, I would say it’s certainly prudent to conduct surveys of both air quality – especially carcinogens – and human health,” Simpson said.

“For decades, we’ve known that exposure to outdoor air pollutants can cause respiratory and cardiovascular disease,” Batterman said. “The World Health Organization has now also formally recognized that outdoor air pollution is a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths.”

Longtime residents near industrial Alberta have struggled to bring attention to bad odors, health threats and related concerns. The peer-reviewed study is one of few in the region and more investigation of the large and complex facilities is needed.

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For example, Simpson said, it appeared in some cases that the companies were not reporting all of the tons of chemicals they release. She and her colleagues documented high levels of 1,3-butadiene that could only have come from one facility, but she said the company had not reported any such emissions.

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Researchers: Traffic-related air pollution a substantial public health concern

Traffic-related air pollution is increasingly shown to have negative health effects according to a growing body of epidemiologic evidence and is a substantial public health concern, argues a commentary published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Mounting evidence indicates a link between exposure to air pollution from traffic and the development of asthma in children and adults.

Despite generally good air quality in Canadian cities, approximately 21 000 people die prematurely from air pollution each year in Canada, about 9-fold more than the number killed in traffic accidents. About 10 million people — 32% of the population of Canada — live within 500 m of highways or 100 m from major urban roads, areas in which they are exposed to elevated levels of traffic-related air pollution.

"This high prevalence of exposure, in addition to evidence of associated health problems, suggests that traffic-related air pollution is a substantial public health concern in Canada," writes Michael Brauer, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC, with coauthors.

The authors highlight four overlapping strategies with short- and long-term options to help mitigate the effects of traffic-related air pollution:

• Reducing vehicle emissions: introducing programs to remove or retrofit high-emission vehicles; reducing traffic congestion; expanding infrastructure for electric cars
• Modifying current infrastructure: limiting heavy truck traffic to specific routes; separating active commuting zones (e.g. cycle and walking routes) from busy roads
• Better land-use planning and traffic management: locating buildings such as schools, daycares and retirement homes at least 150 m away from busy streets
• Encouraging behavioural change: creating policies to reduce traffic congestion in specific areas and encouraging alternative commuting behaviours.

The authors cite growing evidence that indicates that these types of interventions are successful. For example, the introduction of a fee for drivers to enter a "congestion charge zone" in London, UK, reduced traffic volume and congestion that resulted in "an estimated gain of 183 years of life per 100 000 residents within the zone over a 10-year period."

"Although these interventions alone benefit health, combining strategies can result in more cost-effective policies and greater improvements to population health," the authors conclude.

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World Health Organization has classified air pollution as carcinogenic to humans

“The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances”

The specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), announced today that it has classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans.

After thoroughly reviewing the latest available scientific literature, the world’s leading experts convened by the IARC Monographs Programme concluded that there is sufficient evidence that exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer (Group 1). They also noted a positive association with an increased risk of bladder cancer. Particulate matter, a major component of outdoor air pollution, was evaluated separately and was also classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).

The IARC evaluation showed an increasing risk of lung cancer with increasing levels of exposure to particulate matter and air pollution. Although the composition of air pollution and levels of exposure can vary dramatically between locations, the conclusions of the Working Group apply to all regions of the world.

A major environmental health problem Air pollution is already known to increase risks for a wide range of diseases, such as respiratory and heart diseases. Studies indicate that in recent years exposure levels have increased significantly in some parts of the world, particularly in rapidly industrializing countries with large populations. The most recent data indicate that in 2010, 223 000 deaths from lung cancer worldwide resulted from air pollution.

“The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances,” says Dr Kurt Straif, Head of the IARC Monographs Section. “We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths.”

The IARC Monographs Programme, dubbed the “encyclopaedia of carcinogens”, provides an authoritative source of scientific evidence on cancer-causing substances and exposures. In the past, the Programme evaluated many individual chemicals and specific mixtures that occur in outdoor air pollution. These included diesel engine exhaust, solvents, metals, and dusts. But this is the first time that experts have classified outdoor air pollution as a cause of cancer.

“Our task was to evaluate the air everyone breathes rather than focus on specific air pollutants,” explains Dr Dana Loomis, Deputy Head of the Monographs Section. “The results from the reviewed studies point in the same direction: the risk of developing lung cancer is significantly increased in people exposed to air pollution.”

The IARC reviewed more than 1000 scientific papers from studies on five continents. The reviewed studies analyse the carcinogenicity of various pollutants present in outdoor air pollution, especially particulate matter and transportation-related pollution.The evaluation is driven by findings from large epidemiologic studies that included millions of people living in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

The predominant sources of outdoor air pollution are transportation, stationary power generation, industrial and agricultural emissions, and residential heating and cooking. Some air pollutants have natural sources, as well.

“Classifying outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans is an important step,” stresses IARC Director Dr Christopher Wild. “There are effective ways to reduce air pollution and, given the scale of the exposure affecting people worldwide, this report should send a strong signal to the international community to take action without further delay.”

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In elderly, hardening of arteries linked to plaques in brain

Even for elderly people with no signs of dementia, those with hardening of the arteries are more likely to also have the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"This is more evidence that cardiovascular health leads to a healthy brain," said study author Timothy M. Hughes, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh.

The study involved 91 people with an average age of 87 who did not have dementia. Researchers took scans of the participants' brains to measure any plaques in the brain. The amount of stiffness in the participants' arteries was measured about two years later.

Half of all participants had beta-amyloid plaques. People with beta-amyloid plaques were more likely to have high systolic blood pressure, higher average blood pressure and higher arterial stiffness as measured with the brachial-ankle method. For every unit increase in brachial-ankle arterial stiffness, people were twice as likely to have beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.

Arterial stiffness was highest in people who had both amyloid plaques and white matter hyperintensities in the brain, or brain lesions.

"These two conditions may be a 'double-hit' that contributes to the development of dementia," Hughes said. "Compared to people who had low amounts of amyloid plaques and brain lesions, each unit of increase in arterial stiffness was associated with a two- to four-fold increase in the odds of having both amyloid plaques and a high amount of brain lesions."

Hughes noted that the relationship between arterial stiffness and amyloid plaque was not changed when regular resting blood pressure was taken into account. "This study adds to growing evidence that hardening of the arteries is associated with cerebrovascular disease that does not show symptoms. Now we can add Alzheimer's type lesions to the list," Hughes said.

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New cases of autism level-off in UK, Rise in the U.S.

The number of newly diagnosed cases of autism has levelled off in the UK after a five-fold surge during the 1990s, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

The findings differ from widely publicised results issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last year, which reported a 78% increase in the prevalence of the condition in eight year old children between 2004 and 2008 in the US.

Prompted by these data, which found that one in every 88 eight year old children in the US had been diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder in or before 2008, the authors wanted to find out if there were comparable rates in the UK.

They used entries into the General Practice Research Database (GPRD), which contains around three million anonymised active patient records from over 300 representative general practices in the UK―equivalent to 5% of the UK population.

Data from practices enrolled from 1990, when the GPRD was set up, were used to calculate the annual prevalence (number of people living with the condition) and the annual incidence (number of newly diagnosed cases) of autistic spectrum disorders among eight year olds, all of whom were born after 1996.

Annual prevalence rates for 2004-2010 were calculated by dividing the number of eight year olds diagnosed as autistic in that or any previous year, by the number of eight year olds enrolled in the database for each year.

Annual incidence rates were calculated by dividing the number of eight year olds who had been newly diagnosed with autism between 2004 and 2010 by the number of eight year olds enrolled into the database for each of those years.

The results showed that the annual prevalence and incidence of autism did not materially change over the entire study period, for either boys or girls.

The annual prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders was estimated at 3.8 per 1000 boys and 0.8 per 1000 girls, while the annual incidence was estimated at 1.2 per 1000 boys (1190 in total) and 0.2 per 1000 girls (217 in total).

Girls were about 75% less likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder as boys.

The UK prevalence of about 4/1000 children is substantially lower than the equivalent US figure of about 11/1000 children in 2008, which was reported in 2012.

"The large difference between countries is closely similar to differences in rates reported for children diagnosed and treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the two countries," the authors point out.

Their previously published research, based on the same database, showed that the cumulative incidence of autism among children born in UK between 1988 and 1995 increased continuously by a factor of five during that period.

And they say that both studies provide "compelling evidence that a major rise in incidence rates of autism, recorded in general practice, occurred in the decade of the 1990s but reached a plateau shortly after 2000 and has remained steady through 2010."

Similar widespread sharp rises in the number of children diagnosed as autistic were also seen in the 1990s in other parts of Europe and North America, they add, making it unlikely that better understanding of the condition or a broadening of the diagnostic criteria alone could have been responsible for these simultaneous large increases.

Given the apparent sudden halt in the rise in rates from early 2000 onwards - at least in the UK - the "actual cause of the dramatic rise in the 1990s remains a mystery," they write, emphasising that the suggestion that it might be linked to the MMR vaccine has been conclusively ruled out.

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7 States Sue the EPA for not limiting pollution from wood heaters

A coalition of seven states have filed a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency for violating the Clean Air Act. They say the EPA has failed to adequately limit air pollution emissions from new residential wood heaters.

Outlined in the legal papers, NewYork Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, along with the other coalition contend that the EPA's existing emissions limits, which haven't been revised in 25 years, are outdated and leave out popular types of residential wood heaters -- including outdoor wood boilers.

“EPA's regulations simply haven't kept pace with the proliferation of wood-burning devices or the availability of cleaner-burning units. Smoke from residential wood-burning heaters poses a serious health threat, especially in New York’s rural communities,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “This lawsuit aims to force the EPA to comply with the Clean Air Act and provide overdue leadership in requiring new wood heaters to meet stricter pollution standards – an action that will save consumers money, improve local air quality and safeguard public health.”

Wood smoke contains several pollutants, including fine particulate matter (soot), that are linked to serious public health impacts, including asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death. Wood smoke can also cause short-term effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation and shortness of breath. According to recent EPA data, soot emitted from wood-burning devices comprises 13 percent of all soot pollution in the country. Moreover, several studies have found that residential wood combustion is responsible for potentially dangerous short-term spikes in soot air pollution, especially in rural areas.

Under the Clean Air Act, EPA must set pollution emission limits, called New Source Performance Standards or NSPS, for categories of emission sources that “cause, or contribute significantly to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare.” Importantly, the agency must review and, as appropriate, revise these limits at least every eight years to ensure they keep pace with advances in pollution control technologies. The limits apply to new or substantially modified sources

In 1988, EPA concluded that pollutants in wood smoke endanger public health and that residential wood heaters must be regulated under the Clean Air Act's NSPS provision. That same year, the agency set a NSPS limit for soot emissions by these devices. At the same time, EPA exempted heating devices that fall under the category of “boilers.” These 1988 standards remain on the books today, despite the development of much cleaner-burning stoves and the proliferation of outdoor wood boilers for residential heating.

A 2008 study by the New York State Attorney General's Office’s Environmental Protection Bureau found that outdoor wood boilers emit far more soot than other residential wood heaters—about 12 times as much soot as EPA-certified wood stoves, 1,000 times as much as oil furnaces and 1,800 times as much as gas furnaces. According to the report, the annual rate of outdoor wood boiler sales in the state probably increased threefold between 1999 and 2007, with an estimated 14,500 units sold in the state during those years.

Since the adoption of NSPS limits in 1988, three eight-year review periods mandated by the Clean Air Act have come and gone (1996, 2004, 2012) without the agency completing even one review of the limits. In the absence of EPA limits, the agency has established a voluntary program to encourage the purchase of cleaner-burning outdoor wood boilers. However, that program has not proven effective.

Joining Attorney General Schneiderman in the suit filed today are the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, as well as the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The coalition's suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., asks the court to find the EPA in violation of the Clean Air Act and order the agency to promptly review, propose and adopt necessary updates to the NSPS for residential wood heaters as required by the act.

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Large study finds exposure to even low levels of air pollution during pregnancy has risks

"Our findings suggest that a substantial proportion of cases of low birthweight at term could be prevented in Europe if urban air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter, was reduced", explains lead author Dr Marie Pedersen from the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, Spain.

The researchers estimate that for every increase of 5 micrograms per cubic metre (5µg/m³) in exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy, found in for example traffic fumes and industrial air pollutants, the risk of low birthweight at term rises by 18%. Importantly, this increased risk persists at levels below the existing EU annual air quality limit of 25µg/m³. 

Using data from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE, coordinated by the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands), the investigators pooled data from 14 cohort studies in 12 European countries involving over 74 000 women who had singleton babies between Feb, 1994 and June, 2011.

Air pollution concentrations of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter were estimated at the home addresses using land-use regression models. Traffic density on the nearest road and total traffic load on all major roads within 100m of the residence were also recorded.

All air pollutants, particularly fine particulate matter (PM 2.5; with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less), and traffic density increased the risk of term low birthweight and reduced average head circumference at birth, after accounting for other factors like maternal smoking, age, weight, and education.

The researchers estimated that if levels of PM 2.5 were reduced,  22% of cases of low birthweight among term deliveries could be prevented.

According to Dr Pedersen, "The widespread exposure of pregnant women worldwide to urban ambient air pollution at similar or even higher concentrations than those assessed in our study provides a clear message to policy makers to improve the quality of the air we all share."

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Air pollution increases heart attacks confirms new research

General air pollution, not only fine particulate increases heart attacks, according to new research.

“In the last few decades there has been a worrying increase in air pollution. Regardless of local environmental and social policies to approve air quality, the negative effect of air pollution continues to be an important public health problem,” said Dr Savina Nodari.

The research was presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress in Italy this month.

“Some studies conducted in Europe and the US have reported an association between air pollution, especially fine and ultrafine particles which are measured as particulate matter (PM) 10, and not only respiratory disease but also acute cardiovascular events and deaths. The European Union has set a PM10 safety threshold of 50 micrograms/m3 but the negative effect of PM10 on the cardiovascular system may occur at levels lower than this cut off.”

The current study set out to confirm the association between levels of PM10, which is a marker of general air pollution, and the risk of acute cardiovascular events. It also examined individual susceptibility to cardiovascular events during high PM10 levels. Data was collected on daily hospitalisations for cardiac events (acute coronary syndrome, acute heart failure, malignant ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation) and average daily concentrations of PM10 in Brescia during 2004 to 2007.

The study found a significant association between PM10 levels and admission for acute cardiovascular events such as acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, worsening heart failure, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias. The effect was linear, with a 3% increase in admissions for every 10 microgram increase in PM10.

The researchers also found that older people (>65 years) and men were particularly susceptible to having arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation or acute coronary syndromes at increasing levels of air pollution.

Another finding was that cardiovascular hospitalisation during a higher level of PM10 occurred more often in patients who had previously been hospitalised for a cardiovascular event.

“We need to pay particular attention to protecting patients who are older and who have had a previous heart attack or other heart problem, as they are more vulnerable to having another cardiac event,”she said. “Air pollution is a big problem because we can’t protect people if we are unable to improve the air quality where they live. To protect public health, national policies need to consider other sources of energy for cars, industry and domestic use which may include electricity, wind energy, photovoltaic systems or nuclear energy."

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Combination of stress and exposure to air pollution affects fetal development

Maternal psychological distress combined with exposure to air pollution during pregnancy have an adverse impact on the child's behavioral development, according to researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health.

The study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics, reports that "maternal demoralization", (a measure of psychological distress capable of affecting a mother's ability to cope with stressful situations), was linked with a number of behavioral problems, including anxiety, depression, attention problems, rule-breaking, externalizing problems, and aggressive behavior. The effects of demoralization were greatest among children with higher levels of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in air pollution.

"This study shows that the combination of physical and psychosocial stressors during fetal development magnifies the effect of each exposure," says lead author Frederica Perera, DrPH, PhD, director of the Center. "The findings are of concern because attention problems and anxiety and depression have been shown to affect peer relationships, academic performance, and future well- being of children."

The paper is the first to assess the interaction between PAH, combustion-related pollutants measured in air the mother breathed during pregnancy, and maternal demoralization on a variety of behavioral problems in childhood.

PAH are air pollutants generated by combustion sources such as motor vehicles, coal-fired power plants, residential heating and tobacco smoke. In Krakow, Poland, where the study took place, as in many areas worldwide, coal burning is an important air pollution source. Although Krakow has relatively high ambient concentrations of PAH from coal-burning and vehicle emissions, levels are within the range seen in many other urban areas worldwide. "Air pollution exposure is ubiquitous and often co-occurs with socioeconomic disadvantage and maternal psychological distress," notes Dr. Perera.

Researchers, led by Dr. Perera and Wieslaw Jedrychowski, MD, PhD, from the University of Krakow, followed 248 mother-child pairs from pregnancy through 9 years of age. Personal air sampling was completed during pregnancy to estimate prenatal PAH exposure. Behavioral problems were assessed using the Child Behavioral Checklist, a set of questions to which mothers responded about their child's behavior. Maternal demoralization has been correlated with socioeconomic factors such as material hardship. Levels of maternal demoralization were ascertained by a questionnaire during the second trimester.

Relationships between prenatal air pollution and behavioral or cognitive problems in childhood have previously been observed in the Center's Mothers & Newborns study in New York City and in the Polish cohort. This new study builds upon prior findings to examine the joint impact of maternal psychological distress and air pollution on behavioral problems.

Understanding the interactions between the social and physical environment will help to explain health disparities and create interventions to prevent health and developmental problems in children. Notes Dr. Perera, "The findings support policy interventions to reduce air pollution exposure in urban areas as well as programs to screen women early in pregnancy to identify those in need of psychological or material support."

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Contaminated water breeds low-weight babies, sometimes born prematurely

Pregnant women living in areas with contaminated drinking water may be more likely to have babies that are premature or with low birth weights (considered less than 5.5 pounds), according to a study based at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Featured in the Canadian Journal of Economics, the study shows that the effects of contaminated water—which include numerous cognitive and developmental impairments—are particularly significant for babies born to less-educated mothers. These mothers also are less likely to uproot from areas with contaminated water, which, the authors note, suggests a need for serious improvement in terms of communicating with people living in such areas.

"Fetuses are vulnerable to all types of pollution, including water contamination caused by chemicals and bacteria," said Janet Currie, the Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing. "This contamination can lead to a host of problems, including low-birth-weight babies who can have lifelong cognitive struggles. It's a particular problem for less-educated women who also presumably have less options in terms of housing."

While past studies have focused on the effects of air pollution on infant health, Currie's is one of the first to evaluate the effects of water pollution on infants. Together with researchers from Columbia University and the University of California, San Diego, Currie examined ten years of New Jersey birth records and data on drinking-water quality collected from 1997 to 2007. All birth records contained information regarding the date of birth, an infant's health at birth and maternal characteristics such as race, education and marital status. To determine whether mothers relocated due to water contamination, the researchers studied sets of siblings and whether mothers moved between births.

Using data from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Currie and her team looked at violation records across 488 water districts in New Jersey and found that more than a quarter of districts had water contamination violations affecting more than 30,000 people. These violations included both chemical and bacterial contamination caused by such contaminants as dichloroethane—a solvent often used for plastics or as degreasers— as well as radon and coliform.

The researchers matched the birth records to the water systems that serve the infants' residences. Because weather can dictate the amount of water a person consumes, they also incorporated daily temperatures into their dataset.

"We found that infants exposed to contamination in utero tend to have mothers who are younger, less educated and less likely to be married than other mothers. They are also more likely to be African-American or Hispanic," Currie said. "The results also suggest that mothers who are less educated are less likely than other mothers to move in response to contamination, while older mothers are more likely to drink bottled water or move."

Currie notes that when a water district is affected, the DEP is required to send a notice to all residences. However, for renters, there may be routing difficulties.

"If someone puts something in your mailbox, do you even see it? Does your landlord pick it up?" said Currie. "Notices are being sent that people don't receive. There's an undercurrent here that the way information is sent isn't adequate. We need to get this information to people directly."

Currie suggests that health-care workers include literature about water contamination risks and hazards in clinics and exam rooms to reach more pregnant women.

"If it's going to be harmful for some groups, we need to at least let those groups know about them, so they can avoid it," said Currie.

In the future, Currie plans to continue studying environmental impacts on child health while also pursuing the relationship between home foreclosures and health.

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Diesel pollution prevents honeybees from finding flowers

Photo: James Barker/freedigitalimages.net

Exposure to common air pollutants found in diesel exhaust pollution can affect the ability of honeybees to recognise floral odours, new University of Southampton research shows.

Honeybees use floral odours to help locate, identify and recognise the flowers from which they forage.

The Southampton team, led by Dr Tracey Newman and Professor Guy Poppy, found that diesel exhaust fumes change the profile of flora odour. They say that these changes may affect honeybees’ foraging efficiency and, ultimately, could affect pollination and thus global food security.

The study mixed eight chemicals found in the odour of oil rapeseed flowers with clean air and with air containing diesel exhaust. Six of the eight chemicals reduced (in volume) when mixed with the diesel exhaust air and two of them disappeared completely within a minute, meaning the profile of the chemical mix had completely changed. The odour that was mixed with the clean air was unaffected.

Furthermore, when the researchers used the same process with NOx gases (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide), which is found in diesel exhaust, they saw the same outcome, suggesting that NOx was a key facilitator in how and why the odour’s profile was altered. The changed chemical mix was then shown to honeybees, which could not recognise it.

Dr Newman, a neuroscientist at the University, comments: “Honeybees have a sensitive sense of smell and an exceptional ability to learn and memorize new odours. NOx gases represent some of the most reactive gases produced from diesel combustion and other fossil fuels, but the emissions limits for nitrogen dioxide are regularly exceeded, especially in urban areas. Our results suggest that that diesel exhaust pollution alters the components of a synthetic floral odour blend, which affects the honeybee’s recognition of the odour. This could have serious detrimental effects on the number of honeybee colonies and pollination activity.”

Professor Poppy, an ecologist at the University, adds: “Honeybee pollination can significantly increase the yield of crops and they are vital to the world’s economy... However to forage effectively they need to be able to learn and recognize the plants. The results indicate that NOx gases — particularly nitrogen dioxide — may be capable of disrupting the odour recognition process that honeybees rely on for locating floral food resources. Honeybees use the whole range of chemicals found in a floral blend to discriminate between different blends, and the results suggest that some chemicals in a blend may be more important than others.”

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EPA obtains warrant to cleanup over 1000 unlabeled or improperly labeled drums and containers in NJ

Ongoing Investigation Reveals Presence of Hazardous Materials 

Photo: EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has obtained a federal warrant to do the necessary cleanup work at the Superior Barrel & Drum company facility in Elk Township, New Jersey, where more than a thousand unlabeled or improperly labeled drums and other containers have been left in a state of disrepair.

Many of the drums are leaking their contents onto the ground and are exposed to wind and rain. The EPA and the NJDEP are currently investigating the drums and containers at the site under a warrant that was previously issued by a federal judge when the facility owner refused to give the EPA access to the facility. The EPA is working with Elk Township, the local fire and police departments and the NJDEP on the investigation and cleanup of the facility.

“This facility contains a large number of barrels that need to be addressed. The EPA intends to do everything necessary to ensure that hazardous materials at the facility do not harm the public,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. "The EPA’s top priority is preventing a release, fire or explosion that could endanger the community or pollute the environment.”

“Conditions at this facility are inexcusable,” New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said. “The DEP will continue to work with the Environmental Protection Agency on the categorization and safe removal of these materials, as well as soil testing and monitoring to ensure the environment and public health are protected. We will also support any legal or enforcement actions deemed necessary to restore this site and protect the public.”

The EPA began its investigation on August 30, 2013. Field tests indicate that some drums contain hazardous materials, including corrosive and flammable chemicals. The preliminary results of samples sent to the laboratory show the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene and other hazardous substances such as lead. Exposure to these pollutants can have serious health effects. Benzene is known to cause cancer and lead is a toxic metal that is especially dangerous to children because their growing bodies can absorb more of it than adults. Lead in children can result in I.Q. deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, reduced attention spans, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems.

Once it completes its investigation, the EPA will work with state and local agencies to take appropriate steps to remove the hazardous waste and protect the public. The EPA is monitoring the air near the work areas. The EPA will secure the materials and make arrangements for their transport and proper disposal out of the area. Prior to removal of any of the hazardous materials, the EPA will develop a contingency plan to ensure that the removal of the chemicals is done safely. Fire department and hazardous materials response teams will be consulted and prepared to respond to the site if necessary. Throughout the cleanup, the municipal government and local community will be kept informed.
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What Allergy and Asthma Sufferers Need to Know for Fall

An estimated 35 million Americans suffer from allergies. For those with fall allergies, three triggers typically occur – ragweed, indoor allergens and infections.

“During the summer, people experience the lowest incidence of allergies and asthma so they feel better and stop taking their allergy medications...” said David Rosenstreich, M.D., director of the allergy and immunology division at Montefiore Medical Center. “If allergy sufferers make the mistake of waiting until after their symptoms are in full swing, it’s much harder to stop the allergic reaction than to prevent it from even beginning.”

One of the biggest culprits for fall allergies is ragweed. In the fall, ragweed releases pollen into the air and this continues until frost kills the plant closer to winter. Most prevalent in the Eastern and Midwest states, ragweed causes an allergic reaction commonly called hay fever and results in symptoms that include itchy eyes, nose and throat, sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, tearing or dark circles under the eyes.

An allergy symptom is the result of the immune system overreacting. It mistakes the pollen or other allergy trigger as a foreign invader and attacks it, which leads to the release of chemicals called histamines into the blood. The histamine travels through the blood and latches onto histamine receptors on other cells, causing them to swell. This inflammation causes many familiar allergy symptoms.

Another trigger for allergies during the fall is due to people staying indoors more and they are therefore exposed to allergens like pet dander, dust and mold. Several precautions to consider include:

• Maintain an allergen free environment at home
• Focus on your bedroom: keep your pets out, eliminate the rug because it collects dust and avoid feather pillows
• Make sure the fireplace is well-ventilated and be careful of any leakage
• Keep basement and bathroom dry to avoid mold growing in these damp areas of the house
• Have your heating system cleaned to avoid dust mites when you first turn on the heat


The third trigger is infections and the flu, which affect the body’s immune system and cause it to release antibodies and histamines to fight them off. The flu vaccine is recommended to help reduce the risk of getting sick, but it’s even more important for people who suffer from asthma or other lung conditions.

“There’s no reason for people with allergies to suffer,” Dr. Rosenstreich said. “As long as you take the proper precautions, you should be able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and make the most of family time in your home.”

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Smoking during pregnancy may increase risk of bipolar disorder in offspring

A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests an association between smoking during pregnancy and increased risk for developing bipolar disorder (BD) in adult children.

The researchers evaluated offspring from a large group of pregnant women who participated in the Child Health and Development Study (CHDS) from 1959-1966. The study was based on 79 cases and 654 comparison subjects. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with a twofold increased risk of BD in their offspring.

Smoking during pregnancy is known to contribute to significant problems in utero and following birth, including low birth weight and attentional difficulties. This is the first study to suggest an association between prenatal tobacco exposure and BD, a serious psychiatric illness. The condition is marked by significant shifts in mood that alternate between periods of depression and mania. Symptoms typically become noticeable in the late teens or early adulthood.

"These findings underscore the value of ongoing public health education on the potentially debilitating, and largely preventable, consequences that smoking may have on children over time," said Alan Brown, MD, MPH, senior author and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Epidemiology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University and Mailman School of Public Health.

A previous study by Dr. Brown and colleagues found that flu virus in pregnant mothers was associated with a fourfold increased risk that their child would develop BD.

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