What’s Up Doc – Don’t Breathe the Air!

Should you’re doctor be advising you to check the “AQI” each day? That’s the air quality index. If you’re sensitive to pollutants or at risk due to lung or cardiovascular disease, maybe your doctor should be explaining avoidance strategies for heavy pollution days at your next checkup.

A new report in the April issue of American Journal of the Medical Sciences, suggests that health care professionals should be looking at three specific categories of air pollutants, along with how they impact health, when advising their patients.

• Particulate matter, linked to increased rates of illness and death from heart and lung (cardiopulmonary) disease—probably by promoting inflammation within the airways. Particulates may also increase lung cancer risk, but more study is needed.
• Ozone, a respiratory irritant that decreases lung function in healthy people as well as patients with asthma. Short-term increases in ozone level may also lead to increases in illness and death from cardiopulmonary disease.
• Nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide, which are highly toxic at high concentrations. Although they contribute to poor air quality, it remains unclear whether these pollutants cause health problems at the "ambient" levels associated with air pollution.

"Increased recognition of the hazards of air pollution, coupled with simple common sense recommendations from clinicians, may provide the basis for reducing exposure to outdoor air pollution," concludes Scott Shofer, MD, PhD, of Duke University School of Medicine.

Patients should be advised to watch for symptoms possibly related to air pollution exposure, such as chest pain or tightness, cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Those with respiratory diseases such as asthma should be sure to carry their "rescue" inhalers.

"We believe these simple actions may help reduce the risk of adverse events due to air pollution in sensitive patient populations," Dr. Shofer conclude. The report also calls for revised air quality standards to lower ambient levels of air pollutants—especially small particles and ozone.

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Newswise

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How to reduce particle matter, carbon monoxide and NOx with CleanAIR emissions control technology