2. Lessons from reducing air
pollution, it can be done and it
works!
Prof.Pat Goodman
Europe day 13th
June 2013
Helsinki
pat.goodman@dit.ie
3. Talk structure
Sources of air pollution
Air pollution and health
Examples of reducing air pollution and
health benefits
WHO work
Conclusions
4. Where does air pollution come
from?
Most of the harmful pollution, the very
fine particles come from combustion
process;
Namely burning such as coal, oil wood
And engine emissions, especially diesel
Can also have industrial sources
8. Dublin SMOG 1982
Dublin 1982 Case Fatality Rates
Kelly and Clancy, Irish Medical Journal; 77:10: 322-324. 1984CFR
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10
Jan '80 Jan '81 Jan '82 Jan '83
Date
10. Dublin space heating 1980s
The main source of particulate pollution
was the burning of coal in open grates
Space heating for homes was
100% solid fuel for social housing
80% for private housing
(partially supported by Government grants
to reduce the dependence on imported oil)
11.
12. Dublin Coal ban
30th
Sept 1990
Banned the marketing, sale and
distribution of smoky coal in greater
Dublin
14. Effect of Air Pollution Control on
Mortality in Dublin
Clancy et al, Lancet
• Effect of ban on sale of
coal on air pollution in
Dublin
– 36 µg/m3 BS (-71%)
– 11 µg/m3 SO2 (-34%)
• Effect on mortality
– 7% Total Mortality
– 13% Cardiovascular
– 16% Respiratory
– 3% Other
15. JAWMA 2009 extensions of
the Irish coal ban1998 Ban Cities
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1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
BlackSmoke(µg/m
3
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Arklow Drogheda Dundalk Limerick Wexford
1998 Ban
16. Utah Valley, 1980s
• Winter inversions trap local pollution
• Natural test chamber
• Local Steel mill contributed ~50% PM2.5
• Shut down July 1986-August 1987
• Natural Experiment
17. Large difference in air quality
when inversions trap air pollution in valley
Utah Valley: Clean day
Utah Valley: Dirty day
(PM10 = 220 µg/m3
)
18. When the steel mill was open, total children’s hospital
admissions for respiratory conditions approx.
doubled.
Mill
Open
Mill
Closed
19. Event Authors Outcomes
German
Reunification
Peters et al 2009
Suguri et al 2006
Frye et al 2003
Improved air quality and
health benefits
Improved Lung function in
Children
Improved FVC, drop in
bronchitis etc
Bejing Olympic
Games Summer
2008
Li et al 2010
Huang et al 2009
Drop in Asthma admissions
Improved heart rate criteria
Residential Wood
Burning SJ Valley
CA.
Lightall et al 2009 Improved air quality.
Mortality and morbidity cost
savings
Stockholm
Congestion Charging
Zone
Johanson et al 2009 Improved life expectancy
Workplace Smoking Goodman et al 2009 Reduced MI, improved
23. Other evidence
APHEA in Europe
NMMAPS in the US
Air pollution harmful even at low levels
24. The challenges!
Cooking on open fires indoors (very
high exposures in developing countries)
Industrial development in developing
countries
Developed countries, nee dto reduce
fuel consumption, and thus emissions!
For example, in the 1980s I moved to the Provo/Orem area of Utah. This metro area is situated in a mountain valley. Temperature inversions often trap air pollution near the valley floor which serves as a natural test chamber for pollution exposure. Furthermore, in the 1980s the largest local source of air pollution, the Geneva Steel Mill, shut down for 13-months and then reopened, providing a novel natural experiment.
On days without an inversion, like the one in this photo, the air in Utah Valley is very clean. However, as illustrated in this photo on the right, when inversions trap local air pollution, air quality can get very bad—but not as bad as the killer smog episodes of Meuse Valley, Donora, or London. If you look closely, you can see “thermal bubbles” on the top of the inversion layer above smoke stacks of the steel mill.
The intermittent operation of the steel mill provided a natural experiment, where the primary source of pollution in our natural exposure chamber was shut off for 13 months and then turned back on. We used this opportunity to study pollution effects on children’s respiratory hospitalizations. The operation of the mill clearly contributed to elevated levels of air pollution and pediatric hospital admissions for bronchitis, asthma, and total respiratory conditions were approximately doubled.