A study published yesterday in JAMA examined the relation between long term exposure to air pollution (ozone, particulate, nitrogen oxides, and black carbon) and emphysema and lung function.
The study was part of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and was conducted in 6 locations (New York, Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Chicago, St. Paul, and Los Angeles).
At the start of the study, living in an area with higher air pollution (ozone, particulate, nitrogen oxides, and black carbon) was increased the progression of emphysema over the next 10 years of the study. Being exposed to higher levels of ozone during the study (from beginning to end of the study) also increased the progression of emphysema. Being exposed to higher levels of ozone during the study also damaged the lungs and led to decreased measured lung function. Researchers equated the damage caused by a increase of 3ppb in average annual ozone on emphysema progression as the same as smoking a pack a day of cigarettes for 29 years.
This is more evidence we need stronger air pollution standards and stricter vehicle emission standards. Please call your federal elected officials to tell them the news of this study.
To read or listen to a news article about the study, see this link: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/08/13/750581235/air-pollution-may-be-as-harmful-to-your-lungs-as-smoking-cigarettes-study-finds
To read the research article published in JAMA, see this link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2747669
