This article in New Scientist reviews the health benefits that happen quickly, within a week or few weeks, when air pollution is reduced.
- One week after Ireland banned workplace smoking, deaths from all causes fell by 13%. There were also reductions in heart disease, strokes, and COPD/emphysema.
- When a steel mill in Utah Valley closed, hospitalizations for pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchitis, and asthma went down by half.
- Decreased traffic during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics resulted in an almost 50% reduction in people getting medical care for asthma.
- Replacing wood burning stoves or unvented gas fireplaces with cleaner forms of heating leads to fewer school absences and fewer doctor visits.
Reducing air pollution also reduces greenhouse gases, so it’s a win-win thing to do.
Read the news article here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2226280-measures-to-reduce-air-pollution-quickly-result-in-big-health-benefits/
The news article was about a recent scientific study. Read the scientific article here: https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201907-538CME
12/9/2019
