Air pollution may be damaging ‘every organ in the body’
Air pollution may be damaging every organ and virtually every cell in the human body, according to a comprehensive new global review. The research shows head-to-toe harm, from heart and lung disease to diabetes and dementia, and from liver problems and bladder cancer to brittle bones and damaged skin. Fertility, foetuses and children are also affected by toxic air, the review found.
The systemic damage is the result of pollutants causing inflammation that then floods through the body and ultrafine particles being carried around the body by the bloodstream.
Air pollution is a “public health emergency”, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with more than 90% of the global population enduring toxic outdoor air. New analysis indicates 8.8m early deaths each year, making air pollution a bigger killer than tobacco smoking. But the impact of different pollutants on many ailments remains to be established, suggesting well-known heart and lung damage is only “the tip of the iceberg”.
“Air pollution can harm acutely, as well as chronically, potentially affecting every organ in the body,” conclude the scientists from the Forum of International Respiratory Societies in the two review papers, published in the journal Chest. “Ultrafine particles pass through the [lungs], are readily picked up by cells, and carried via the bloodstream to expose virtually all cells in the body.”
Prof Dean Schraufnagel, at the University of Illinois at Chicago and who led the reviews, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if almost every organ was affected. If something is missing [from the review] it is probably because there was no research yet.”
The review represents “very strong science”, said Dr Maria Neira, WHO director of public and environmental health: “It adds to the heavy evidence we have. There are more than 70,000 scientific papers to demonstrate that air pollution is affecting our health.” Schraufnagel is concerned that many doctors are unaware of this wide-ranging damage associated with air pollution.
Researchers cannot experiment on people and so by necessity many studies show significant associations between poor air quality and disease, but cannot prove cause and effect. However, Schraufnagel said compelling evidence comes from three types of study: where air pollution and illness change in tandem over time, where the “dose” of pollution correlates with levels of disease and from animal studies.
“Harmful effects occur even at levels below air quality standards previously considered to be safe,” warn the review scientists, who between them represent every continent. They add: “The good news is that the problem of air pollution can be addressed.”
“The best way to reduce exposure is to control it at its source,” said Schraufnagel. Most air pollution comes from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, heat homes and power transport.
“We need to work on these factors in a very dramatic way,” said Neira. “We are probably the first generation in history to be exposed to such a high level of pollution. We have megacities where all the citizens are breathing toxic air,” she said. “However, with all the tonnes of evidence we are collecting now, politicians will not be able to say we didn’t know.”