Cleaner air equals longer lives: study

[one...two...tree 2,762]

BOSTON (Reuters) – Dramatic improvements in U.S. air quality over the last two decades have added 21 weeks to the life of the average American, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Reducing fine particles given off by automobiles, diesel engines, steel mills and coal-fired power plants have added as much as 15 percent of the 2.72 years of extra longevity seen in the United States since the early 1980s, they wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Changes in smoking habits are the biggest reason why Americans are living longer, said Arden Pope, an epidemiologist at Brigham Young University in Utah who led the study.

Improved socioeconomic conditions, judged partly by the proportion of high school graduates living in an area, rank next. But cleaner air was a big factor.

"It's stunning that the air pollution effect seems to be as robust as it is after controlling for these other things," Pope said in a telephone interview.

Using life expectancy, economic, demographic and pollution data from 51 metropolitan areas, Pope and his colleagues found when fine-particle air pollution dropped by 10 micrograms per cubic meter, life expectancy rose by 31 weeks.

Areas such a Akron, Ohio, and Philadelphia showed that kind of drop in air pollution.

The bigger the decline, the longer people began living.

In some areas where fine-particle counts dropped by 13 to 14 micrograms -- such as Buffalo, New York and Pittsburgh -- people typically started living about 43 weeks longer.

The findings show there has been a real dividend from the efforts since the 1970s to improve air quality, said Pope.

In a commentary, Daniel Krewski of the University of Ottawa said the study "provides direct confirmation of the population health benefits of mitigating air pollution and greatly strengthens the foundation of the argument for air-quality management."

Based on earlier research, the World Health Organization has estimated that 1.4 percent of all deaths around the world are caused by air pollution particles.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090121/hl_nm/...lution_lifespan

[chri'stina 190]

I wonder how much longer they'd live in India's cities without the pollution, which is so bad it made me have black boogers every morning.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I wonder how much longer they'd live in India's cities without the pollution, which is so bad it made me have black boogers every morning.

Do a lot of people use coal/wood burning stoves where you were staying?

[Marilyn. 340]

isn't this a "no, duh" kind of study??

[one...two...tree 2,762]

isn't this a "no, duh" kind of study??

Not really. The controlled study showed that air quality alone has a significant impact on a person's longevity....more than many other health factors.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I wonder how much longer they'd live in India's cities without the pollution, which is so bad it made me have black boogers every morning.

Do a lot of people use coal/wood burning stoves where you were staying?

All Indian cities are like that. Primary reason is vehicular emissions and industrial pollutants.

isn't this a "no, duh" kind of study??

Breaking: Dirty water makes babies puke!

[mawilson 2,133]

Breaking news: Contaminated food is bad for your health!

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

Breaking news: Contaminated food is bad for your health!

especially chinese milk.

[Heracles 417]

Did they actually need a study to prove this?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

...sigh

Since the 1970s, the United States has made substantial effortsand investments to improve air quality.

As these efforts continue,a fundamental question remains: Do improvements in air qualityresult in measurable improvements in human health and longevity?

Associations between long-term exposure to fine-particulateair pollution and mortality have been observed in population-basedstudies^1,2,3 and, more recently, in cohort-based studies

.....

Source:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/4/376

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Did they actually need a study to prove this?

Exactly. The libruls think the rest of us want dirty air. Do they understand anything?

[chri'stina 190]

I wonder how much longer they'd live in India's cities without the pollution, which is so bad it made me have black boogers every morning.

Do a lot of people use coal/wood burning stoves where you were staying?

Oops, hit reply without actually typing anything .

I was going to answer, but AJ did already...

Edited January 23, 2009 by Parivar CSK

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Does not smoking help people to live longer?

[NickD 203]

Now if cleaner air means removing particles from the air, and with those particles gone that were blocking the rays of the sun, more of the sun rays would hit the earth and cause global warming.

We may be living 22 weeks longer now, but not without a price tag. The polar ice caps will melt, the Rockies will be a mile under water and we all will die.

Fish will be happy though.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I wonder how much longer they'd live in India's cities without the pollution, which is so bad it made me have black boogers every morning.

You get that here in subways (precisely why I avoid them) - if someone farts at one end of the line, you get it at the other. . I can't imagine what is like getting that just from walking around on the street.