Smokers' homes may be as polluted as worst cities: Study

Polluted air due to smoking has been
linked to heart disease, strokes and cancer.

Living with a smoker can be like breathing the air in the world’s most polluted cities, according to a new study from Scotland.

“The message is pretty simple really - smoking in your home leads to really poor air quality and results in concentrations of fine particles, that you can’t see, that would cause real concern to us if they were found outside,” said lead author Sean Semple, of the Scottish Center for Indoor Air at the University of Aberdeen.

Tiny particles 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller, known as PM2.5, can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the blood. They’ve been linked to heart disease, strokes and cancer.

“Making your home smoke-free is key to reducing your exposure to PM2.5; for non-smokers who live with a smoker the impact of implementing smoke-free house rules would reduce their daily intake of PM2.5 by 70 percent or more,” Semple told Reuters Health in an email.

Such tiny particles typically result from combustion. Outdoors, the primary sources are vehicle exhaust, power plants and wildfires. Indoors, wood-burning or coal-burning stoves, gas cooking and heating fires and tobacco smoke are the most common sources of PM2.5 in the air.

For outdoor air, the World Health Organization says the safe exposure limit for PM2.5 particles is an average of 25 micrograms, or 25 millionths of a gram, per cubic meter of air over a 24-hour period, or average annual levels of 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets the 24-hour limit at an average of 12 micrograms.

Semple and his colleagues wanted to bring together two scientific communities: those involved in tobacco control work and those interested in outdoor air pollution and health.

“We think there is a lot that each can learn from the other,” he said.

Many studies have examined outdoor air pollution or indoor air quality in workplaces. But home is where most people spend the majority of their time, particularly small children and homebound elderly people, the researchers write.

By comparing indoor air pollution in the homes of smokers and non-smokers, then comparing that to the most polluted cities, they hoped to illustrate the perils of indoor tobacco smoke over a lifetime.

The study team looked at data from four separate studies that measured PM2.5 levels in 93 Scottish homes where people smoked and 17 homes that were smoke free.

On average, PM2.5 levels in smokers' homes were around 31 micrograms per cubic meter – 10 times greater than the average of 3 micrograms in non-smoking homes.

There was a wide range of smoke concentrations in the smokers’ homes, however, and in one quarter of them, the 24-hour averages were 111 micrograms.

Semple pointed out, “A considerable proportion of smokers’ homes had air pollution levels that were the same or higher than the annual average PM2.5 concentration measured in Beijing,” a heavily polluted city.

The study team estimates that over a lifetime, a non-smoker living with a smoker will inhale about 6 grams more particulate matter than a non-smoker living in a smoke-free home.

Semple said that isn’t much, but this amount is likely to "have a substantial effect on the risk of developing diseases of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.”

Semple said smokers often express the view that outdoor traffic pollution is a bigger problem than second-hand smoke pollution in the home.

“What this work shows is that, for most people living outside of major heavily polluted mega-cities like Beijing or Delhi, outdoor air pollution is much, much lower than what is measured inside homes where someone smokes,” he said.

“We have a lot of data and it’s an established fact how bad secondhand smoke is,” said Lucy Popova, from the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. “There’s no safe level of exposure to it.”

“Smoke-free rules help not only by reducing the particulate matters for non-smokers but it actually helps smokers to quit too,” said Popova, who was not involved in the Scottish study.

AllerAir's air purifiers with carbon +
HEPA can help remove dangerous
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“Research shows when you have smoke-free rules in your home, that motivates smokers to make more cessation attempts and decrease the number of cigarettes that they smoke.”

Source: Fox News

Are you concerned about the air quality in your home or office? AllerAir's air purifiers for smoke feature a deep bed of activated carbon, HEPA and special pre-filters to remove airborne chemicals, particles and odors caused by tobacco smoke (as well as other airborne contaminants that are present). Contact AllerAir for more information: 1-888-852-8247.

Opt for masks to reduce personal exposure to air pollution

Masks can filter out fine particles,
but not gases or chemicals.

According to a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, face masks can help protect people with coronary heart disease (CHD) from the risks of air pollution.

The study was conducted in Beijing, China, and found that heart disease symptoms and blood pressure were reduced when older men and women with CHD wore masks while walking around the city.

The masks help protect people by filtering out harmful fine and ultra-fine particles coming from urban traffic pollution.

The findings show that individual actions, such as wearing a face mask, can lessen some of the symptoms of those susceptible to urban air pollution.

Urban traffic, industry and other sources release both gases and particles into the air.

This mix of outdoor air pollutants has been linked to cardiovascular disease and a higher risk of death, and continued exposure can also raise people’s blood pressure.

The study involved almost 100 participants who were monitored over two 24-hour periods. On one of the days they wore a face mask.

Source: Environmental Health News

Breathe better air at home with air purifiers

While wearing a mask outside may help alleviate some of the risks associated with air pollution, harmful gases and particles as well as other contaminants may still affect people in their own homes.

In fact, these pollutants can build up to dangerously high levels indoors that cannot be mitigated with general ventilation systems.

AllerAir has developed highly effective air purifiers for the home and office that can remove the widest range of indoor air pollutants, including airborne chemicals and gases, odors, fine particles, dust, bacteria, viruses and mold.

The AllerAir air purifiers feature a deep-bed activated carbon filter for gaseous pollutants, a HEPA filter for particles and optional UV germicidal filtration for biological contaminants.

From the most popular basic models, the 5000 Exec and the 6000 Exec, to more specialized units for chemical and odor control, allergies and asthma, MCS and more, AllerAir’s comprehensive product lineup is sure to have the right model for anyone.

Contact AllerAir for more information.
 

Heart at risk from exposure to environmental pollution

Environmental toxins build up in the body
over time, scientists say

Environmental pollutants like PCBs, dioxin and pesticides have been linked to cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure and heart attack.

Now you can add the increased risk of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, to that list.

In the latest of several environmental studies, researchers in Sweden tested more than 1,000 study participants for 23 environmental toxins.

Many of these toxins have been banned for some time, but because they have such a long half life, they are still a major factor in people’s exposure.

The study concentrated on people age 70 or older, since the toxins are stored in the body at increasingly higher levels over time.

The researcher compared the levels of environmental exposure to the health of their arteries, determined by the amount of plaque build-up in the carotid artery.

The more plaque there is, the narrower the arteries get and will reduce blood flow to the heart; if an area of plaque ruptures, it blocks the blood flow completely and can cause a heart attack.

Even after controlling for other cardiovascular risk factors, the researchers found a strong link between seven environmental pollutants and increased plaque build-up in the carotid artery.

Heart attack and stroke are leading causes of death in industrialized countries, and they are both associated with atherosclerosis, so studying the effects of environmental pollutants may be beneficial for the public health, the researchers said.

Source: TIME Healthland

Remove environmental pollutants at home or at work

The danger of environmental pollution is that people often don’t know they are breathing in contaminants or how they can affect them.

Many homes and buildings could benefit from improved indoor air quality, but department store air purifiers often rely on HEPA to remove particles and allergens.

Activated carbon can adsorb harmful
chemicals, gases and VOCs.

For people who are also concerned about chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), odors and gases, an air purifier with deep bed activated carbon will remove a wide range of environmental pollutants.

AllerAir has designed portable and versatile air purifiers for the home and office that feature a powerful activated carbon + HEPA + UV (optional) filter combination.

Contact us to find out more.

Air Pollution Linked to Heart Disease; The Number One Killer of Canadian and American Women

I, like thousands other women watched Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette perform last night with tears in my eyes. This young Olympian, on the brink of the most exciting week of her life, lost her mother to a massive heart attack on Sunday morning. Therese Rochette was only 55 years old – tragic and all too common in North America.

Mistakenly thought of as a male health issue, heart disease is actually the number one killer of women over the age of 55 in both Canada and the United States. In fact, almost twice as many women die from heart related aliments than from all forms of cancer.

Researchers are beginning to see that this staggering health problem stems not only from lifestyle issues, but environmental factors as well. Only last week researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California , announced that their studies show that exposure to air pollution accelerates the thickening of artery walls that leads to heart disease. The problem was especially serious for those who lived next to a heavy pollution source which caused the thickening to progress twice as fast as for those who lived farther away.

Chemical exposure may also play a role in heart disease. In January, researchers reported that elevated exposure to bisphenol A seemed associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It’s the second time researchers have made a connection between the controversial plastic compound and heart problems.

While these environmental factors definitely warrant more study, there are also numerous established risk factors that women can also address:


Tobacco Smoke:
While it’s no surprise that smokers have a higher risk of having a heart attack, many women don’t realize that regular exposure to second-hand smoke also puts them at greater risk.

Inactivity:
Physically inactive women double their risk of developing heart problems. As little as 30-minutes of exercise four times a week could lower the risk.

High Blood Pressure:
Also called hypertension, this condition forces the heart muscle to work harder and causes damage to blood vessels, making them more likely to clog.

Body Weight:
Weight has a direct effect on a woman’s risk of developing heart disease. Experts say that even losing a small amount of weight can make a difference.

Cook, DuPage and 12 Other Illinois Counties Below EPA Air Quality Standard

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 14 Illinois counties, including Cook and DuPage, do not meet air quality standards for fine particles, more commonly referred to as soot.

Exposure to soot can be associated with heart or lung disease and premature death, according to the EPA. The particles can also lead to bronchitis, asthma attacks, heart attacks and other ailments.

The Indoor Air Quality Experts (IAQ) at AllerAir agree that fine particles are extremely dangerous, and are recommending that the Illinois counties that are below EPA air quality standards incorporate air purifiers into their homes and businesses.

Air purifiers are becoming the standard in relatively healthy homes across North America, but they are an absolute must in states like Illinois where the air in many of the counties is simply unfit to breathe. This is going to be especially important for children, the elderly and people with respiratory difficulties.

To speak with an Indoor Air Quality Expert about the dangers of fine particles, common indoor air pollutants or the benefits of an air purifier, call AllerAir toll free at 888.852.8247.