DIESEL POLLUTION LINKED TO HEART DAMAGE, PM2.5 associated with harmful changes to heart structure and function Higher education protective against the damage by European Society of Cardiology, 26 MAY 2017
Prague, Czech Republic – 26 May 2017: Diesel pollution is linked with heart damage, according to research presented today at EuroCMR 2017 (1).
“There is strong evidence that particulate matter (PM) emitted mainly from diesel road vehicles is associated with increased risk of heart attack, heart failure, and death,” said lead author Dr Nay Aung, a cardiologist and Wellcome Trust research fellow, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, UK. “This appears to be driven by an inflammatory response – inhalation of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) causes localised inflammation of the lungs followed by a more systemic inflammation affecting the whole body. ”
The current study examined whether PM2.5 may damage the heart directly. The study included 4 255 participants from the UK Biobank, a large community-based cohort study. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was conducted to measure left ventricular volume (structure) and left ventricular ejection fraction (function). Annual average exposure to PM2.5 was calculated based on participants’ home address.
The association between PM2.5 exposure and heart structure and function was estimated using multivariable linear regression, a form of statistical modelling which adjusts for potential factors that could influence the relationship such as age, gender, diabetes and blood pressure.
Participants were 62 years old on average and 47% were men. The annual average PM2.5 level was 10 µg/m3. The investigators found linear relationships between ambient PM2.5 level and heart structure and function. Every 5 µg/m3 increase in exposure was associated with a 4–8% increase in left ventricular volume and a 2% decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction.
Dr Aung said: “We found that as PM2.5 exposure rises, the larger the heart gets and the worse it performs. Both of these measures are associated with increased morbidity and mortality from heart disease.”
The researchers also looked for potential factors that could modify the relationship. They found that people with degree-level education were less prone to having a larger heart and had a smaller reduction in ejection fraction when exposed to PM2.5 than people with a lower level of education.
Dr Aung said: “People who were highly educated were less likely to have harmful effects on the heart from pollution. This could be due to a number of factors including better housing and workplace conditions, which reduce pollution exposure. Educated people may also be more aware of their health, have healthier lifestyles, and have better access to healthcare.”
Regarding how pollution might have these negative effects on the heart, Dr Aung said PM2.5 causes systemic inflammation, vasoconstriction and raised blood pressure. The combination of these factors can increase the pressure in the heart, which enlarges to cope with the overload. The heart chamber enlargement reduces the contractile efficiency leading to reduction in ejection fraction.
Dr Aung said: “We found that the average exposure to PM2.5 in the UK is about 10 µg/m3 in our study. This is way below the European target of less than 25 µg/m3 and yet we are still seeing these harmful effects. This suggests that the current target level is not safe and should be lowered.”
He continued: “Our results suggest that PM2.5 is linked with negative changes in the heart structure and function that are associated with poor outcomes. Reducing PM2.5 emission should be an urgent public health priority and the worst offenders such as diesel vehicles should be addressed with policy measures.”
In terms of what individuals can do to decrease their risk, Dr Aung said: “Avoid times and places where there is a high level of pollution. If you want to cycle into work and there is heavy traffic around that time then try to find a quieter route. Walk on the part of the pavement furthest from cars to reduce the amount of pollution you breathe in. Those with cardiorespiratory diseases should limit the time spent outdoors during highly polluted periods such as rush hours.” [If breathing fumes from fracking, flaring and facilities inside the home and at the workplace, such as on a ranch, or going to school or residing in a seniors facilitiy where such activities and pollution is permitted next door, limiting exposure is impossible. Emphasis added]
ENDS
Notes to editor
ESC Press Office
Tel: +33 (0) 4 89 87 34 83
Email: email hidden; JavaScript is required
SOURCES OF FUNDING: This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) funded the manual analysis of cardiovascular magnetic resonance images. Dr Nay Aung is funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship.
DISCLOSURES: None.
References and notes
(1)Dr Aung will present the abstract ‘Impact of fine particulate matter air pollutant on cardiac atrial and ventricular structure and function derived from cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging – evidence from the UK Biobank’ during the BEST Oral Abstracts session which takes place on 26 May at 09:45 in Main room 1.
***
Live in Alberta? Hold your breath all day and night long:
Endless oil and gas industry emissions, many carcinogenic, many from diesel trucks running 24/7:
Photos of industry fracing air and families in Alberta municipalities by FrackingCanada
What about particulate pollution from Alberta’s oil and gas facilities in nearly every community? How many heart attacks and diseases in Alberta are caused by oil & gas industry air pollution?
March 12, 2014: Cochrane Interpipeline Gas Plant NW of Calgary
Hold your breath all day and night long.
***
Traffic-Related Air Pollution Linked to DNA Damage in Children, Study Shows Telomere Shortening in Youth with Higher Pollution Exposure by Dr. John R. Balmes in Newswise, May 19, 2017, Article ID: 675053, Source Newsroom: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Children and teens exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution have evidence of a specific type of DNA damage called telomere shortening, reports a study in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Young people with asthma also have evidence of telomere shortening, according to the preliminary research by John R. Balmes, MD, of University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues. They write, “Our results suggest that telomere length may have potential for use as a biomarker of DNA damage due to environmental exposures and/or chronic inflammation.”
The study included 14 children and adolescents living in Fresno, Calif.—the second-most polluted city in the United States. The researchers assessed the relationship between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a “ubiquitous” air pollutant caused by motor vehicle exhaust; and shortening of telomeres, a type of DNA damage typically associated with aging.
As the exposure to PAHs increased, telomere length decreased in linear fashion. Children and teens with asthma were exposed to higher PAH levels than those without asthma. The relationship between PAH level and telomere shortening remained significant after adjustment for asthma and other factors (age, sex, and race/ethnicity) related to telomere length.
The study adds to previous evidence that air pollution causes oxidative stress, which can damage lipids, proteins, and DNA. Research has suggested that children may have different telomere shortening regulation than adults, which might make them more vulnerable to the damaging effects of air pollution.
“Greater knowledge of the impact of air pollution at the molecular level is necessary to design effective interventions and policies,” Dr. Balmes and coauthors conclude. With further research, telomeres could provide a new biomarker to reflect the cellular-level effects of exposure to air pollution. Telomeres might also provide new insights into the understanding how pollution exposure leads to adverse health outcomes. [Emphasis added]
###
About the Author
Dr. Balmes may be contacted for interviews at jbalmes(at)berkeley.edu
Air pollution causes 7,700 premature deaths in Canada each year: report by Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press, Jun. 01, 2017, The Globe and Mail
Air pollution cost Canadian families an estimated $36 billion in 2015 due to premature death and illness, a new research report says.
The report, Costs of Pollution in Canada, is a compilation of scientific data on all aspects of pollution, from smog to oil spills and fertilizer use. It is being released today by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
“The more scientists look at the costs of air pollution, the more they find those costs are large,” said Robert Smith, a senior associate at the institute and the report’s lead author.
A 2008 Canadian Medical Association study concluded that about 2,300 people die prematurely every year because of air pollution — a study once considered the gold standard, Smith said.
More recently, that study was found to have vastly underestimated the impact; new research in 2015 suggested the number of premature deaths caused by air pollution is closer to 7,700 people a year.
“We now know the costs of air pollution are much higher than we thought they were,” Smith said. “The morbidity and mortality is much worse than we thought.”
The IISD report compiles scientific research on the impacts of pollution across a number of areas, including human and animal health and costs to business and government. It includes things such as the cost to clean up contaminated sites, the impact of acid rain, the deaths of honey bees, algae blooms and oil spills.
A lot of the costs of pollution are not known at all because the research simply isn’t there, the report notes.
Pathogens in tap water add another $895 million in costs. Climate change-related heat waves cost $1.6 billion in 2015, the report says.
Heat waves are the only consequence the study priced, since there is no clear picture what portion of other events such storms and droughts can be attributed to climate change, Smith said.
Scientists have been able to attribute about 50 per cent of heat waves to climate change, and the $1.6 billion cost reflects that figure, he noted.
While much of the world is taking steps to address air pollution largely by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, there is a fear the United States is poised to rekindle the use of coal to generate electricity.
President Donald Trump has famously promised to breathe new life into the struggling U.S. coal industry, which used to be responsible for more than half of America’s power, and now produces about one-third.
Regulations on coal-fired plants have put a damper on coal production, as have market forces that made other sources more attractive, such as natural gas from fracking. Burning coal remains the largest source of air pollution in the U.S.
As Trump now ponders withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement, Smith said fear of more coal has grown. Even though Canada isn’t going down that road, “pollution knows no boundaries.”
Toronto, which has finally started to see its air pollution levels go down, would get hit if there is suddenly a ramping-up of coal production in the Ohio Valley, Smith said.
In many ways, he added, the bright light these days is China, which recently shelved plans to open more than 100 new coal plants.
“I guess all we can, in some sense, pin our hopes on is the Chinese population — that their rising middle class isn’t going to put up with this.” [Emphasis added]
Air pollution results in 7,700 premature deaths in Canada each year, report says, Air pollution cost Canadians $36B in 2015 due to premature death and illness by The Canadian Press, Jun 01, 2017, CBC News
Air pollution cost Canadian families an estimated $36 billion in 2015 due to premature death and illness, a new research report says.
The report, Costs of Pollution in Canada, is a compilation of scientific data on all aspects of pollution, from smog to oil spills and fertilizer use. It is being released Thursday by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. …
Scientists have been able to attribute about 50 per cent of heat waves to climate change, and the $1.6 billion cost reflects that figure, he noted.
While much of the world is taking steps to address air pollution largely by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, there is a fear the United States is poised to rekindle the use of coal to generate electricity.
‘Pollution knows no boundaries’
U.S. President Donald Trump has famously promised to breathe new life into the struggling U.S. coal industry, which used to be responsible for more than half of America’s power, and now produces about one-third.
Regulations on coal-fired plants have put a damper on coal production, as have market forces that made other sources more attractive, such as natural gas from fracking. Burning coal remains the largest source of air pollution in the U.S.
As Trump now ponders withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement, Smith said fear of more coal has grown. Even though Canada isn’t going down that road, “pollution knows no boundaries.” [Emphasis added]
In glutted diesel fuel market, Alberta to open first refinery in decades, The $8.5-billion refinery in Sturgeon County, 45 kilometres northeast of Edmonton employs about 2500 people by Robert Tuttle, May 30, 2017, Bloomberg News in Calgary Herald
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
When Canada’s government decided to fund the nation’s first new refinery in three decades in 2012, a diesel shortage had just caused some truckers to be turned away from filling stations, and demand was climbing. Oilsands producers were ramping up output and crude prices topped $100 a barrel.
Fast forward to 2017, and North West Refining’s Sturgeon plant in Alberta is poised to add 40,000 barrels a day of diesel to an already glutted market. Crude is hovering around $50 amid surging North American output, oilsands producers have shelved expansions and Alberta has just emerged from a two-year recession.
“Diesel demand is dropping in Alberta,” John Auers, executive vice president at energy consultant Turner Mason & Co., said by phone. “Any time you are adding more supply, you are going to impact the price negatively.”Diesel demand is lower than it was two years ago, and truck fuel prices relative to crude oil are half their level from three years ago.
The Sturgeon plant, Canada’s first new refinery since 1984, will begin turning oilsands bitumen into diesel by the end of the year, according to Ian MacGregor, chairman of Northwest Redwater Partnership, which owns half the project in partnership with Canadian Natural Resource Ltd. Bitumen is a molasses-like substance extracted from oil sand that is so thick, it has to be blended with condensate or upgraded into synthetic oil to be processed.
Near Supply
Located southwest of Alberta’s oilsands, home to the world’s third-largest crude reserves, Sturgeon is about 90 percent built, with bitumen scheduled to be injected into the plant by the end of summer, MacGregor said. It will process 80,000 barrels a day of diluted bitumen at the end of its first phase, scheduled for completion this year.
The Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, an agent of the provincial government, will provide 75 percent of the feedstock used by the $8.5 billionrefinery, or about 37,500 barrels a day, along with loans, equity and fees, according to government documents published last year, which estimated the total package at about $25 billion over 30 years.
That much bitumen alone is worth about $20 billion at the current market price of about $48 a barrel, according to Bloomberg calculations. Oilsands producers supply the bitumen as a royalty payment to the province.
Changing Market
The diesel market that the refinery will supply has also changed radically in the years since the project got off the drawing board, with swelling quantities of the trucking fuel. The surplus of diesel produced by Alberta refineries in the 12 months through January was 45 percent bigger than in the same period three years before, the latest government figures show.
Diesel at a fuel rack in Edmonton, Alberta, has traded at a 32-cent premium to New York futures over the past three months, almost half its price three years earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
But demand may rise longer term. The country’s National Energy Board projects that vehicles that move freight, such as diesel-burning trucks, will use 5 percent more energy in 2020 from 2016. Energy demand for freight vehicles will rise 1.6 percent this year alone.
“If you look at any long-term forecast, it’s showing that Alberta will be diesel short, so there will be economic sense for the refinery,” Dinara Millington, vice president of research at the Canadian Energy Research Institute. “If that doesn’t transpire, we could potentially export diesel.”
Export Options
Canada is a net exporter of diesel to the U.S. The country sent 71,000 barrels a day across the border in 2016, down from 118,000 barrels a day the year before, U.S. Energy Information Administration data show. Most of that goes to the U.S. East Coast, which has access to production from Eastern Canadian refineries. Western Canada’s biggest export market for diesel is the U.S. West Coast, which is connected to Alberta via the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
By 2020, the diesel will find ready buyers on the Pacific coast as new low-sulfur bunker fuel rules go into effect worldwide, Turner Mason’s Auers said. World distillate demand will rise as much as 1.5 million barrels a day, creating a “slug” of demand that refiners may struggle to fulfill.
That said, the refinery probably isn’t worth the money, Auers said.
“They are paying $9 billion to build that plant and its only processing 50,000 barrels a day of bitumen,” he said. “It was not good investment by the crown.” [Emphasis added]
Canada to open first refinery in decades despite oversaturated fuel market, “Any time you are adding more supply, you are going to impact the price negatively,” says John Auers, executive vice-president at energy consultant Turner Mason & Co. by Robert Tuttle, May 30, 2017, Toronto Star
[Refer also to:
2012 08 17: Diesel still used to frack wells FracFocus data show
2012 09 02: Valley Chokes On Air; Doctor Says Drilling Only Making It Worse
2012 10 18: Frackers continue illegal use of toxic diesel fuels ]