Exposure to outdoor air pollution raises death risk 20%

Pollution from a busy road increases the risk of death for people living nearby. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Improperly ventilated wood or kerosene stove burning, or living near a busy road, dramatically increase the risk of death, a major international study on air pollution has found.

Researchers at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that exposure to above-average levels of outdoor air pollution increased risk of death by 20%, and risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 17%.

In Ireland, concerns around air pollution have grown in recent years, with campaigners, including major health bodies, pointing to the 1,400 lives needlessly lost here every year.

The culprits include particulate matter, which is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.

The Climate and Health Alliance, which includes members of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, UCC School of Public Health, and the National Children's Hospital Ireland, called on the 'turf ban' to be implemented earlier this year.

Climate and Health Alliance spokesman, geriatrician Colm Byrne, a leading authority on the link between air quality and stroke, said the burning of smoky fuels, including turf, coal, and wet wood, at home, is responsible for the majority of the 1,400 deaths.

The NYU researchers said that using wood or kerosene-burning stoves, not properly ventilated through a chimney, to cook food or heat the home, increased overall risk of death by 23% and 9%, respectively, and cardiovascular death risk by 36% and 19%, respectively. 

The findings were extrapolated from personal and environmental health data collected from 50,045 mostly poor, rural villagers in the northeast Golestan region of Iran, the researchers said.

The results also showed that one-third of study participants who lived within 500m of a major roadway had a 13% increased risk of death, while the further a person lives from specialised clinics  that deal with clogged arteries, the rate of death spikes by 1% for every 10km.

Researchers cited World Health Organisation (WHO) data that suggests  25% of all deaths worldwide are now attributable to environmental factors, including poor air and water quality, lack of sanitation, and exposure to toxic chemicals.

"These results illustrate a new opportunity for health policymakers to reduce the burden of disease in their communities by mitigating the impact of environmental risk factors like air pollution on cardiovascular health," said study lead author, Michael Hadley.

The 'turf ban' became a political football when it was proposed here earlier this year, with Environment Minister Eamon Ryan coming under heavy fire from opponents for the perception of ignoring turf-cutting traditions in rural Ireland.

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