A major research project in Utah has drawn a direct connection between air pollution, and lung cancer.
The study involved more than a half million people and took 16 years. Now researchers say exposure to air pollution does in fact increase our risk of dying from lung and heart diseases.
Fifteen years ago, BYU researcher Arden Pope suggested long-term exposure to air pollution was bad for our health. Today, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the strongest evidence to date supporting that theory.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates has the story.
Fifteen years ago, BYU researcher Arden Pope suggested long-term exposure to air pollution was bad for our health. Today, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the strongest evidence to date supporting that theory.
What many cities hate to see is what happened here during the Olympics. The world paid us a visit, and so did our traditional inversion, peppered with pollution!
Now research teams from two countries confirm this stuff is more than just visually annoying. It increases our risk of dying from lung cancer and cardio-pulmonary diseases.
Arden Pope / Epidemiology Researcher, BYU: "WHAT WE'VE BEEN OBSERVING OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS OR SO IS NOT SOME SPURIOUS ASSOCIATION. THAT IN FACT, BREATHING THESE FINE COMBUSTION PARTICLES IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR HEALTH."
The studies show it's not the large stuff in pollution, like blowing dust, we need to worry about, but the small combustion particles and sulfur oxides which come from vehicle exhausts and industry.
In fact, the research team says years of inhaling these fine particles is like a non-smoker living in the same house with a heavy smoker.
Arden Pope: "WHILE WITH CIGARETTE SMOKING, THERE IS THIS ELEMENT OF PERSONAL CHOICE, THE DECISION WHETHER TO BREATHE OR NOT IS A WHOLE OTHER MATTER. (edit) EVERYBODY IS EXPOSED TO NOT VERY HIGH, BUT SIGNIFICANT LEVELS OF THESE FINE PARTICULATE POLLUTANTS."
The half-million plus people used in the research were middle aged or older when the study began back in 1982.
In a separate study, EPA teams are also now trying to identify the actual biological mechanism in the body, which when triggered by pollution, produces lung and cardio-pulmonary inflammation.
Arden Pope says the findings are actually good news, since the fine particulates in pollution are controllable and have dropped in concentration in most cities over the past 20 years.
The research coalition included Brigham Young University, the University of Ottawa, the American Cancer Society and the New York University School of Medicine.
March 5, 2002
