heart disease

Indoor air and outdoor pollution

July 11, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The majority of us spend about 80% of our time indoors. The quality of the air that we breathe depends on the age and type of building we occupy along with any sources of indoor pollution that may exist and, ultimately, the quality of the air outdoors. The HVAC used to heat, ventilate, and cool the building plays an important role.

The College of Engineering at the University of Utah used its Salt Lake City campus as a living laboratory to explore how outdoor air pollution affects indoor air quality. Specifically, the nature of outdoor pollution sources strongly affected how effectively HVAC systems prevented external sources from getting into buildings.

Of particular concern is fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns. These PM 2.5 particles can penetrate deeply into lungs, potentially causing health problems like respiratory irritation and heart disease.

There are multiple sources of PM 2.5. The Utah study found that wildfire smoke had four to five times more PM 2.5 infiltration into buildings than pollution from inversions and wind-driven dust events.

An additional finding was that commercial HVAC systems that use air-side economizers are much less effective at keeping out particulate matter. These systems use special duct and damper systems that reduce energy use by drawing air from outdoors when temperature and humidity levels are optimum.

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Does outdoor air pollution affect indoor air quality?

Photo, posted June 15, 2024, courtesy of Peter Burka via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Microplastics and birds

March 19, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles, less than 5 millimeters in size, that come from the breakdown of larger plastics, synthetic fibers, microbeads, and tire wear. Microplastics are found in oceans, rivers, soil, and even the air we breathe. These particles can take hundreds of years to degrade, spreading across ecosystems and accumulating in unexpected places, such as deep-sea sediments and Arctic sea ice.

According to a new study by researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington, microscopic plastic pollutants drifting through the air are lodging in the lungs of birds. These findings raise significant concerns about the impact on their respiratory health, but also raise alarms about potential risks to human health.

Birds were chosen for the study because they are found in almost every corner of the world and often share environments with humans.

In the study, the research team examined 56 different wild birds from 51 distinct species, all sampled from the Tianfu airport in western China. The researchers found high concentrations of microplastics in bird lungs, with an average of 221 particles per species. The most common types identified were chlorinated polyethylene, which is used for insulating pipes and wires, and butadiene rubber, which is a synthetic material in tires.

Although there is no established “safe” level of plastic particles in lung tissue, high levels of microplastics have been linked to serious health risks, including heart disease, cancer, respiratory issues, and fertility problems.

The study highlights an urgent need to tackle plastic pollution in the environment because of its far-reaching impact on ecosystems and human health.

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Birds breathe in dangerous plastics—and so do we

Photo, posted January 28, 2017, courtesy of Pete Richman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Emissions and the Great Salt Lake

September 4, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Great Salt Lake in Utah has been described as a puddle of its former self. The lake’s size fluctuates naturally with seasonal and long-term weather patterns, but the lake has been experiencing decline for decades as Utahans take water out of the rivers and streams that once fed the lake. Over recent decades, the lake has lost 73% of its water and 60% of its surface area.

For years, scientists and environmental leaders have warned that the Great Salt Lake is headed toward a catastrophic decline. Recent research has found that the lake’s desiccating shores are becoming a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have calculated that the dried-out portions of the lakebed released about 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2020.

The recent study, published in the journal One Earth, suggests that the Great Salt Lake – which is largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere – as well as other shrinking saline lakes around the world could become major contributors of climate-warming emissions.

The shrinking back of the water has exposed a dusty lakebed that is laced with arsenic, mercury, lead, and other toxic substances. Some are naturally occurring, and others are the residue of mining activity in the region. These substances threaten to increase rates of respiratory conditions, heart and lung disease, and cancers.

As the lake shrinks, it is becoming saltier and uninhabitable to native flies and brine shrimp and may increasingly become unable to support the 10 million migratory birds and wildlife that frequent it.

The new research about greenhouse gas emissions just adds to a dire list of environmental consequences brought on by the lake’s steep decline.

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Shrinking Great Salt Lake Becoming Source of Heat-Trapping Gas

Photo, posted January 20, 2020, courtesy of Matthew Dillon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Small changes can yield big results

March 29, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Global food production is one of the largest contributors to climate change. In fact, one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions result from food production and agriculture. Be that as it may, we still have to eat. But what we choose to eat has a major impact on the environment.

According to a new study by researchers at McGill University in Canada and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the U.K., partially replacing red and processed meat with plant-based proteins can increase lifespan and mitigate climate change.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Food, the researchers drew data from a national nutrition survey to analyze Canadians’ dietary records. The study modeled partial replacements (25% and 50%) of either red and processed meat or dairy with plant protein foods like nuts, seeds, legumes, and tofu, on a combination of nutrition, health, and climate outcomes.

In the study, the researchers found that a person’s diet-related carbon footprint plummets by 25% when they replace half of their intake of red and processed meats with plant protein foods. However, dairy substitutions showed smaller reductions of up to just 5%.

Meat and dairy-rich diets are known to increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. The researchers also estimated that if half of the red and processed meat in a person’s diet was replaced with plant protein foods, life expectancy would increase nearly nine months on average, due to a reduced risk of chronic disease.

The research team hopes its findings will help people make healthier and more sustainable food choices.

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Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions

Small dietary changes can cut your carbon footprint by 25%

Photo, posted November 24, 2019, courtesy of Theo Crazzolara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wildfires and air quality

January 1, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The wildfires last summer in parts of the U.S. and Canada fouled the air over much of the country. Air quality in many places was dangerous for human health. And such fires are becoming more numerous and more intense.

A new study by the University of Iowa has assessed the effects of two decades of wildfires on air quality and human health in the continental U.S.

From 2000 to 2020, air quality in the western U.S. has gotten worse as a result of the numerous fires in that region. More generally, all those fires have undermined the success of federal efforts to improve air quality, primarily through the reductions in automobile emissions.

American air had been getting cleaner and clearer as a result of EPA regulations on vehicle emissions, but the surge in wildfires has limited and, in some cases, erased these air quality gains. Twenty years of efforts by the EPA to make our air cleaner have been lost in fire-prone areas and in many downwind areas.

The Iowa study looked at the concentration of black carbon, a fine-particle air pollutant from fires linked to respiratory and heart disease. In the western U.S., black carbon concentrations have risen 86% on an annual basis.

Fires have also affected the air in the Midwest, although not to the same degree as in the west. The eastern U.S. had no major declines in air quality during the 2000-2020 time period. Given the episodes of smoke from Canadian wildfires experienced by the east coast this past summer – as far south as Florida – even the air in that part of the country is suffering from the spread of wildfires.

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Wildfires have erased two decades’ worth of air quality gains in western US

Photo, posted June 8, 2023, courtesy of Anthony Quintano via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Silent Killer | Earth Wise

April 26, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Air pollution is deadly. Studies have found that particles from air pollution can enter our lungs and bloodstream, contributing to major health conditions including heart disease, stroke, cancer, and kidney disease. Globally, air pollution is responsible for the premature deaths of millions of people every year.

The first line of defense against air pollution is ambient air quality standards. But according to researchers from McGill University, more than half of the world’s population lives without the protection of adequate air quality standards.

The research team focused on a specific type of air pollution called particulate matter 2.5 (more commonly called PM2.5). PM2.5 refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width. These tiny particles are responsible for an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths every year globally, including more than one million deaths in China, nearly 200,000 in Europe, and more than 50,000 in the United States.

In the study, which was recently published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, the researchers found that where there are air quality protections, the standards are often worse than what the WHO considers safe. Some regions with high air pollution levels, like the Middle East, don’t even measure PM2.5 air pollution. The researchers found that the weakest air quality standards are often violated, while the strictest standards are often met.

More than half of the world’s population is in urgent need of adequate air quality standards.

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Air pollution: The silent killer called PM 2.5

Photo, posted November 17, 2019, courtesy of Kristoffer Trolle via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Chocolate Is Good For The Heart | Earth Wise

August 27, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

At last a good news story about what we eat, or more specifically, about what we like to eat. According to research published recently in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, eating chocolate at least once a week is linked with a reduced risk of heart disease.

In the past, clinical studies have shown that chocolate is beneficial for both blood pressure and the lining of blood vessels. The new study suggests that chocolate helps to keep the heart’s blood vessels healthy.

The researchers conducted a combined analysis of studies from the past five decades examining the association between chocolate consumption and coronary artery disease. The analysis included data from over 300,000 participants who reported their chocolate consumption. About 14,000 participants in the study ultimately developed coronary heart disease. Compared with consuming chocolate less than once a week, eating chocolate more than once a week was associated with an 8% decreased risk of coronary heart disease.

Chocolate contains heart-healthy nutrients such as flavonoids, methylxanthines, polyphenols, and steric acid. These substances may reduce inflammation and increase good (HDL) cholesterol.

The study did not examine whether any particular type of chocolate is more beneficial or whether there is an ideal portion size. So, while chocolate appears to be promising for reducing the occurrence of coronary heart disease, it will require more research to determine how much and what kind of chocolate could be recommended.

Not to be spoilsports, but the doctors who conducted the study warned against overeating. Eating large quantities of chocolate products laden with calories, sugar, milk and fat, is not a recommended path to improved health.

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Chocolate is good for the heart

Photo, posted February 22, 2014, courtesy of Jan David Hanrath via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Environmental Injustice And the Coronavirus | Earth Wise

May 29, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Cities and towns across the United States continue to wrestle with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and none have been hit harder than low-income and minority communities. Places like Detroit, Chicago, and St. James Parish in Louisiana have suffered from decades of economic inequality and pollution in their poorest neighborhoods and many of these same places have experienced some of the highest mortality rates from the virus.

Recent studies have shown a link between high levels of pollution and the risk of death from COVID-19. Pollution of various kinds are higher in low-income communities and communities of color. Such communities don’t have a strong political voice so that laws and environmental regulations are not enforced like there are in white, higher-income communities. Thus, these communities have highways, landfills, factories, chemical facilities, paper mills, and other pollution sources that communities with economic power – and therefore political power – manage to avoid.

People living in low-income communities and communities of color tend to have higher rates of underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. They have less healthy diets – more fast food and fewer grocery stores. Part of the reason these communities have a higher risk of mortality from COVID-19 infection is that many people have reduced lung capacity as a result of exposure to pollutants.

The Trump administration has been suspending enforcement of environmental regulations during the pandemic. Communities already affected by environmental injustice will bear the brunt of this decision. Groups like nursing home populations, meat packers, prisoners and the poor are suddenly highly visible. COVID-19 is exposing the real differences between the Haves and the Have-Nots in this country.

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Connecting the Dots Between Environmental Injustice and the Coronavirus

Photo, posted May 2, 2006, courtesy of Sean Benham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Reducing Air Pollution With Plants | Earth Wise

January 15, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New research by Ohio State University suggests that adding plants and trees to the landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27%. In addition, the study indicates that, in many cases, plants may be a cheaper option for cleaning the air than more technological approaches.

The study looked at public data on air pollution and vegetation on a county-by-county basis across the lower 48 states. It then calculated what adding additional trees and plants might cost. The calculations included the capacity of current vegetation to mitigate air pollution as well as the effects that restorative planting might have on pollution levels.

In 75% of the counties analyzed, it was cheaper to use plants to mitigate air pollution rather than add technological interventions such as smokestack scrubbers to the sources of pollution. The results varied according to the pollution source. For example, technology is cheaper at cleaning the air near industrial boilers than ecosystem approaches. For the broad manufacturing industry, one approach or the other was favorable, depending on the type of factory.

Adding trees or other plants generally can lower air pollution levels in both urban and rural areas, although success rates depend on a variety of factors including how much land is available to grow new plants and current air quality.

Reducing air pollution is critical to public health. An estimated 4 in 10 people in the U.S. live in areas with poor air quality, leading to health issues including asthma, lung cancer, and heart disease. The study shows that nature should be part of the planning process for industry to deal with air pollution.

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