Whether at the beach, in traffic, or simply sitting on your front porch, it might be worth your while to check your air quality.  

Air pollution has been shown to cause asthma in children, trigger asthma attacks, and lead to heart attacks, stroke, cancer, and dementia in adults.  If this doesn’t grab your attention, to bolster the veracity of the research, you only need to follow the pharmaceutical money.

The drug industry anticipates profiting from the existing and increasing amount of air pollution.  In recent industry market analysis, the number of inhalers required to meet the future needs of U.S. asthmatics by the year 2030 is expected to rise exponentially.  Dementia drugs are also leading the field in providing future profits to the industry.

Why is air pollution providing a profit center? Air pollution has the unique ability to cause cellular irritation and inflammation, but not just in your lungs.  Studies indicate that Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 air pollution, which the EPA states is the worst type of air pollution, can cause inflammation of the vascular system (blood vessels) and the nervous system.  It can penetrate the brain, the heart and other vital organs causing the walls of the blood vessels to weaken, stretch, thicken, swell or become scarred.  This can cause strokes, blood clots, heart attacks, aneurysms, high blood pressure, dementia and other conditions that affect vital organs.  It can also affect the blood vessels that nourish the brain, the spinal cord and nervous system, causing neurological problems.

What is PM air pollution?  PM refers to miniscule droplets or fine particles suspended in the air.  The particles are so fine that they can cross the blood stream barrier directly into the brain from the lungs or sinuses, or directly into the bloodstream of an unborn child.  Its danger lies in an ability to carry dangerous heavy metals.  For example, tiny PM 2.5 particles carry NOx from vehicle exhaust, cadmium from coal burning, or other metals such as arsenic, aluminum (a neurotoxin), mercury and others from industrial processes into blood streams. The World Health Organization concludes,

“The health effects of PM10 and PM2.5 are well documented. There is no evidence of a safe level of exposure or a threshold below which no adverse health effects occur.”  

How do we know when the air is unsafe?   To avoid air pollution exposure, check an air monitor.  If the levels are high, go indoors and keep the windows and doors closed.  Turn on the recirculating air system inside your car.  If conditions persist, invest in a good indoor air filtration system for your home, which is often the best way to protect your health.

For More Information:

World Health Organization: Health Effects of Particulate Matter https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/189051/Health-effects-of-particulate-matter-final-Eng.pdf

PubMed.gov:  Outdoor Air Pollution and Asthma  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24792855/

Globe News Wire by notified: Global Smart Inhalers Market (2021 to 2030) https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/05/03/2434318/28124/en/Global-Smart-Inhalers-Market-2021-to-2030-Opportunity-Analysis-and-Industry-Forecasts.html

Science Direct: Long-term effects of PM 2.5 components on incident dementia in the northeastern United States https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675822000042#:~:text=A%20systematic%20review%20and%20meta,increase%20in%20PM2.5%20concentration.&text=Existing%20studies%20have%20often%20relied,as%20a%20measure%20of%20incidence.  

“Studies suggest that PM2.5 has the potential to induce dementia through biological mechanisms such as systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation.14, 15, 16  In addition, some evidence indicates that PM2.5 can exacerbate or accelerate existing diseases via these biological pathways.17  A growing body of epidemiological evidence suggests that particulate air pollution contributes to dementia, including several longitudinal studies conducted in the United States and around the world.11,18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 The majority of these studies found positive associations between PM2.5 and dementia.”

National Institute of Health:  Vasculitis and the Nervous System Fact Sheet (Vasculitis- Inflammation of the blood vessels) https://www.ninds.nih.gov/vasculitis-and-nervous-system-fact-sheet#:~:text=Vasculitis%20is%20inflammation%20of%20blood,(the%20central%20nervous%20system).

PR Newswire, Allied Market Research:   Dementia Drugs Market Predicted to Reach USD 19.7 Billion, Globally, by 2031 at 8.5% CAGR:  Says Allied Market Research, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dementia-drugs-market-predicted-to-reach-usd-19-7-billion-globally-by-2031-at-8-5-cagr-says-allied-market-research-301699281.html

Airnow.gov:  EPA closest air monitor for Nassau County in Duval County, Sheffield Elementary, City of Jacksonville https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/?contours=none&monitors=ozonepm&xmin=-9171831.89799491&xmax=-8962700.188606586&ymin=3530351.727234117&ymax=3631095.7305140183

Weather Underground and Purpleair:  https://www.wunderground.com/sensors/purpleair

The Weather Company Collaborates with PurpleAir: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-weather-company-collaborates-with-purpleair-to-provide-community-air-quality-data-across-its-consumer-properties-300491652.html

How do I find an air monitor?  Unfortunately, the EPA’s air monitors (airnow.gov) do not report the air quality of Nassau County. Since there are no EPA air monitors in Nassau County, airnow.gov uses monitors from Jacksonville/Duvall County to report our county’s air quality. However, new, local air monitors are now located in Nassau County through Purpleair. The Purpleair.com map reports local readings all over the United States and the world.  The Weather Channel (an IBM company) reports our local air quality using Purpleair monitors through the Weather Underground website and app.  Google Maps also utilizes Purpleair monitors in its Air Quality layer (but only on your phone).  Avoiding local exposure to high levels of air pollution can now be as easy as checking a phone app or a Google Map.

Find Air Monitors

How can we help stop air pollution? Vehicular emissions and power generation are the leading causes of air pollution. Drive less, or carpool if you must drive.  (In 2020, FDOT recorded almost 4 million vehicle trips on Fernandina’s South 8th St. between Lime and Centre Streets alone.)   Avoid idling your vehicle’s engine, walk, bike, or drive electric vehicles.  Consolidate your vehicular trips in running errands, take public transportation, and avoid burning yard waste.

Limiting our children’s futures with poor health, expensive health insurance, or poor job prospects with asthma or lung disease, or becoming demented in the future, does not need to be an accurate, profitable prediction for the drug industry.  Nor should air pollution-related illnesses be a new market trend for an investment portfolio.

FAITH ROSS

Reprint from Fernandina Beach News-Leader, January 25, 2023