 |
|
Study highlights burden of environment on child health in Europe (p 2032)
June 16, 2004Authors of a study in this week's issue of THE LANCET are calling for urgent governmental action across Europe to tackle childhood disease and deaths associated with poor environmental conditions in Europe. The study-supported by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome Office-serves as the basis for the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) to be adopted next week at the WHO Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest, Hungary (23-25 June 2004).
40% of the global disease burden associated with the environment affects children aged 5 years or younger. Children in European countries, although generally wealthier and healthier than children in many other regions of the world, are vulnerable to poor health outcomes associated with unsafe and unhealthy environments. Francesca Valent from the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Udine, Italy, and colleagues from the Institute for Child Health "Burlo Garofolo" in Trieste, Italy, estimated the burden of disease attributable to outdoor and indoor air pollution, inadequate water and sanitation, lead exposure, and injury among European children and adolescents.
The investigators assessed the environmental effects on health in terms of mortality and disability adjusted life years (DALYs), a combination of years shortened by early mortality and the number of years spent living with a disease or disability.
Between 2 and 6% of deaths among young children (0-4 years) were attributable to outdoor air pollution; indoor pollution-closely associated with acute lower respiratory-tract infection-caused over 4% of deaths and 3% of DALYs; mild mental retardation resulting from lead exposure accounted for just over 4% of DALYs.
For children aged up to 14 years, diarrhoea-attributable to inadequate water and sanitation-accounted for around 5% of deaths and 3"¢5% of DALYs.
Injuries (such as road-traffic accidents, falls, and injuries caused by war or violence) were a major cause of death and DALYs for children across the entire age range assessed (0-19 years), accounting for 22% of deaths and 19% of DALYs.
Dr Valent comments: "Our findings indicate the urgent need for interventions aimed at reducing children's exposure to unsafe water, outdoor and indoor air pollution, and lead, and at preventing injuries. Action can result in substantial public-health gains Interventions aimed at ensuring use of clean fuels and universal access to improved water and sanitation, clean air, and safer buildings and transport require the involvement of the environment and health sectors and also action in sectors such as transport, energy, urban planning, and education. Whereas the health and environment sectors are responsible for disseminating information, building awareness, training professionals, and promoting healthier behaviours, governments as a whole need to provide the legislative, financial, and policy basis for environmental protection."
Lancet
Air Pollution Current Events and Air Pollution News RSSNew Satellite Data Reveal Impact of Olympic Pollution Controls
Chinese government regulators had clearer skies and easier breathing in mind in the summer of 2008 when they temporarily shuttered some factories and banished many cars in a pre-Olympic sprint to clean up Beijing's air. And that's what they got.
Wind, water and sun beat biofuels, nuclear and coal for clean energy, Stanford researcher says
The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are blowing in the wind and rippling in the water, not growing on prairies or glowing inside nuclear power plants, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.
Pinning down the fleeting Internet: Web crawler archives historical data for easy searching
The Internet contains vast amounts of information, much of it unorganized. But what you see online at any given moment is just a snapshot of the Web as a whole -- many pages change rapidly or disappear completely, and the old data gets lost forever.
Smokers see decline in ability to smell, rise in laryngitis, and upper airway issues
As Americans prepare for a day without cigarettes and tobacco products as part of the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout (R) (November 20), new research gives them more reasons to extend that break to a lifetime.
Lichens function as indicators of nitrogen pollution in forests
Scientists have found lichens can give insight into nitrogen air pollution effects on Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino mountain ecosystems, and protecting them provides safeguards for less sensitive species.
Pollution, everyday allergens, may be sources of laryngitis
Everyday exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, allergens, and air pollution may be the root of chronic cases of laryngitis, says new research presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Chicago, IL.
Fuel Emissions From Marine Vessels Remain a Global Concern
Marine vessels are no longer resting in a safe harbor. The forecast for clear skies and smooth sailing for oceanic vessels has been impeded by worldwide concerns of their significant contributions to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that impact the Earth's climate.
Tracking Down the Menace in Mexico City Smog
A new report by scientists who are part of the international MILAGRO Campaign indicates that some of the most harmful air pollution in Mexico City may not come from motor vehicles but instead originates with industrial sources - and that the culprit may be garbage incineration.
Dirty air brings rain -- then again, maybe not
An international team of scientists, headed by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has come up with a surprising finding to the disputed issue of whether air pollution increases or decreases rainfall. The conclusion: both can be true, depending on local environmental conditions.
Global survey highlights need for cancer prevention campaigns to correct misbeliefs
Many people hold mistaken beliefs about what causes cancer, tending to inflate the threat from environmental factors that have relatively little impact while minimizing the hazards of behaviours well established as cancer risk factors, according to the first global survey on the topic.
More Air Pollution Current Events and Air Pollution News Articles
 | Air Pollution Control (3rd Edition) by C. David Cooper, F. C. Alley Since the First Edition appeared, Air Pollution Control: A Design Approach has become the leading air pollution control text on the strengths of good writing, comprehensive coverage, an emphasis on design, and excellent real-world examples. The Third Edition continues this tradition of excellence, incorporating new and updated information throughout the text while retaining the topical... |
 | Air Pollution: Its Origin and Control (3rd Edition) by Kenneth Wark, Cecil F. Warner, Wayne T. Davis A well-respected air pollution text, this book is suitable for a variety of engineers and scientists who wish to gain an introduction to the field of air pollution. Known for its detailed development and application of equations, the text emphasizes an understanding of the relationship between sources and control of air pollution, rather than being a simple "handbook" on the subject. ... |
 | Air Pollution Control Technology Handbook (Mechanical Engineering) by Jr., Karl B. Schnelle, Charles A. Brown In the debate over pollution control, the price of pollution is a key issue. But which is more costly: clean up or prevention? From regulations to technology selection to equipment design, Air Pollution Control Technology Handbook serves as a single source of information on commonly used air pollution control technology. It covers environmental regulations and their history, process design, the... |
 | Indoor Air Pollution: A Health Perspective (The Johns Hopkins Series in Environmental Toxicology) |
 | Fundamentals of Air Pollution, Fourth Edition by Daniel Vallero Fundamentals of Air Pollution is an important and widely used textbook in the environmental science and engineering community. Written shortly after the passage of the seminal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the third edition was quite timely. Surprisingly, the text has remained relevant for university professors, engineers, scientists, policy makers and students up to recent years. However,... |
 | Air Pollution Meteorology and Dispersion by S. Pal Arya Air Pollution Meteorology and Dispersion provides a concise yet thorough review of the basic theories, models, experiments, and observations of pollutant dispersal in the atmosphere. It offers the theoretical and empirical bases of frequently used dispersion models while emphasizing the limitations and uncertainties inherent in these models. Organized into twelve chapters, the material is... |
 | Health Effects of Transport-Related Air Pollution by Michal Krzyzanowski; Birgit Kuna-Dibbert; Jürgen Schneider This book provides a systematic review of the literature and a comprehensive evaluation of the health hazards of transport-related air pollution. The review addresses: factors determining emissions, the contribution of traffic to pollution levels, human exposure and the results of epidemiological and toxicological studies to identify and measure the health effects. This book is designed for... |
 | Air Pollution Control Engineering by Noel De Nevers This text covers the whole air pollution field, from an engineering perspective. The principal topics are control devices and their theory. The book uses many more examples than other texts to help the student see the magnitudes of important quantities and to show and practice the practical application of theoretical treatments presented. The other half is devoted to topics that form some of the... |
 | Smoke and Mirrors: The Politics and Culture of Air Pollution by E. Melanie DuPuis "Given this ambitious study, air pollution can no longer be understood simply as an issue of economics, science, and engineering, but one that implicates fundamental values and controveries surrounding justice, fairness, and the construction of knowledge." —Gary Bryner, Brigham Young University Who gets to breathe clean air? Who benefits from the cheaper products produced with dirty air?... |
| A Breath of Fresh Air: A Practical Guide for Filtering Out Indoor Air Pollution Utilizing Houseplants by Laronna Debraak |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |