Smoky coal ban significantly reduces chronic lung diseases in elderly, UL study finds

The participants in the study were interviewed about their health status between 2009 and 2018 to establish if their lung health was impacted by the staggered rollout of the ban.

A significant reduction “in the probability of chronic lung diseases in older people” has been linked to the rollout of a ban on smoky coal, in a study published by the University of Limerick.

The study traced the health of more than 4,000 older people across Ireland, in both urban and rural settings. The participants in the study were interviewed about their health status every two years between 2009 and 2018 in a bid to establish if their lung health was impacted by the staggered rollout of the ban on smoky coal.

Lead author of the study, Vincent O’Sullivan, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Limerick, said: “During the early 2010s, the smoky coal ban was extended to medium-sized towns of at least 15,000 inhabitants. In 2020, after our data were collected, the ban was extended to towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants.” 

The ban was extended countrywide last year.

Professor O’Sullivan said: “The effect of extending the ban was quite large. We calculate that extending the ban to towns with more than 15,000 inhabitants, which occurred during the 2010s, reduced the incidence of new cases of chronic lung disease by around 23%.” 

He said: “Many studies examine statistical associations between environmental regulations and health, but it can be difficult to rule out influences from other factors.

“For example, a simple comparison between cities like Dublin and Cork where smoky coal was banned in the 1990s, and rural areas where smoky coal has only recently been banned, would not account for differences in traffic and industrial pollution between these areas. Our comprehensive analysis consistently showed that the bans reduced the incidence of lung disease among older people,” he added.

Data

The study specifically examined incidence of chronic lung disease which encompasses COPD, chronic bronchitis or chronic emphysema, It also examined data from five waves of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, a large nationally representative survey containing detailed information on demographics, health status, health behaviours, housing, and socio-economic status.

Co-author of the study, Dr Anne Nolan of the Economic and Social Research Institute added: “Our study shows that even in Ireland, which has relatively good air quality and low levels of pollution by international standards, policy measures to reduce air pollution can still have positive effects on health.” 

She concluded: “Increasing concern about harms at relatively low levels of exposure is reflected in new, much lower, thresholds for air pollution exposure that were published by the World Health Organization in 2021.” 

The study outlined that the “greatest damage to health from air pollution” is caused by “chronic exposure” to matter primarily arising from the combustion of fuels such as those used for home heating, power generation, and in vehicle engines.