CLEANER BREATHING PLANET™

Despite efforts to improve air quality, manufacturing and power production continues to dump tons of pollutants into our air every year, not only in the U.S. but also worldwide.  It is not just power plants and smoke stacks that are assaulting the air.  Most major cities and many formally rural areas are literally seeing an increase in pollution levels due to gas and diesel exhaust, as well as particulates from sanding, road construction and dust.  And it is not just outdoor air pollution that is a concern.  Because of tighter building construction techniques and out gasing of synthetic materials, homes and office complexes are increasingly seeing pollution levels often estimated at 5 times that of the outside air.  “Sick building syndrome” has become a catch phrase for our time.

It is difficult to read through a magazine or newspaper without seeing an article or story about air pollution.  Many of today’s scientists express increasing concerns about  the quality of our air.  The following excerpts will illustrate the point:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2005                              

Prenatal exposure to air pollution can lead to genetic changes in babies which can be linked to increased risk of cancer, according to a US study published on Tuesday. The study by Columbia University followed 60 newborns and their non-smoking mothers in low-income New York City neighborhoods. Researchers measured the mothers' exposure during the last three months of their pregnancies to polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons, which are produced by primarily fuel burning of vehicles. Then they tested the umbilical cord blood of the newborns to look for chromosomal abnormalities. Chromosomes carry the DNA. "We observed 4.7 chromosome abnormalities per thousand white blood cells in newborns from mothers in the low exposure group, and 7.2 abnormalities per thousand white blood cells in newborns from the high exposure mothers," said Dr. Frederica Perera, who led the study.

Air Pollution Thickens The Blood, Study Shows

Air pollution, and especially particulate matter, thickens the blood and boosts inflammation, finds experimental research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

This may help to explain why air pollution is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, and worsening respiratory problems.

The research team tested the inflammatory and blood clotting responses of human immune cell (macrophages) and umbilical cord and lung cells, six and 24 hours after exposure to particulate matter.

The results showed that clotting factors, which thicken the blood, were enhanced in almost all the cell types. The rate of death in immune cells also significantly increased, and exposure to the pollutants boosted inflammatory activity.

The authors say their findings suggest that particulate matter has the ability to alter cell function so that it promotes thickening or coagulation of the blood. And they point to a potential synergy between the factors that boost inflammation and blood thickening.

Ultrafine particles of inhaled particulate matter can enter the bloodstream, raising the possibility that their "thickening" effects on macrophages might have an impact on the plaques found on artery walls. Macrophages are a major component of arterial plaques.