Tag: Air Pollution

Air Pollution Triggers Millions of Cases of Diabetes Each Year

(Dr. Mercola) Air pollution has been named the “largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today” by a collaboration of more than 40 researchers looking at data from 130 countries.1 The problem is insidious and travels without respect for borders. Air pollution created in Asia affects people living on the California coast.

Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) is the most studied type of air pollution and refers to dust, dirt, soot, smoke or other particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These particles of air pollution are so fine they may enter your system through your lung tissue and trigger chronic inflammation, which in turn increases your risk of health conditions.2

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 92 percent of the world’s population is breathing polluted air3 and nearly 7 million deaths are attributed to air pollution each year.4 Overall, a toxic environment is responsible for at least 25 percent of all deaths reported worldwide, and air pollution is the greatest contributor.

The idea that air pollution is a source of toxic exposure often leading to ill-health should come as no surprise. In a previous study,5 American researchers found exposure to as little as one or two months of air pollution may be enough to increase your risk of diabetes, especially if you are already obese. In a recent global study,6 a new link has been made between air pollution and Type 2 diabetes.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Air Pollution May Be Responsible for Damage Leading to Type 2 Diabetes

According to the American Diabetes Association,7 30.3 million Americans, or 9.4 percent of the population, had diabetes in 2015. Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of the condition, accounting for nearly 99 percent of cases8 and is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. In 2015, 4.1 million Americans over 18 were diagnosed with prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.

Individuals with prediabetes have an increased risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.9 Previous studies10,11,12,13 have looked at links between outdoor air pollution and the emergence of Type 2 diabetes, but the featured study is a first attempt to quantify the connection.

Researchers tracked 1.7 million U.S. Veterans14 for almost a decade in order to assess risk, using data from other global studies evaluating diabetes risk, along with air quality data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and NASA.

The researchers then created an equation to analyze the connection between exposure to air pollution and the risk of diabetes globally. The study, published by The Lancet Planetary Health, concluded that air pollution was responsible for 3.2 million newly diagnosed cases around the world in 2016 alone. Assistant professor of medicine at Washington University and author of the study, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, commented on the overall effects of breathing air pollutants, saying:15

“We tell people all the time, if you eat bad stuff, it affects your health. You are what you eat, you are what you drink and, really, you are what you breathe. What you breathe really, really affects your health.”

This was one of the largest and most unique studies of its kind. In all, 14 percent of newly diagnosed cases of Type 2 diabetes could be attributed to air pollution in 2016.16 The study also estimated 8.2 million years of healthy life were lost globally in 2016 due to air pollution-induced diabetes.

The pollutants tracked and examined in the study were PM 2.5, 30 times smaller than a human hair. The study makes a strong case that the current EPA limits on air pollution are set too high. The threshold on particulate matter deemed safe by the EPA is 12 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air) and the study found the risk of diabetes started at 2.4 ug/m3.

During the study, 21 percent exposed to between 5 ug/m3 and 10 ug/m3 of particulate matter, developed diabetes. At the current “safe” level established by the EPA, 24 percent develop diabetes.

Related: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good

Rule Creates Loophole to Evade Improvements in Water and Air Quality

While this and other studies have demonstrated a significant detrimental effect on the health of U.S. citizens from air pollution, a rule proposed by the Trump Administration17 suggests all studies used by the EPA to determine water and air regulations must make their underlying data publicly available. Unfortunately, studies like the featured study and others are based on confidentially held health data. This greatly undermines the potential for regulations to improve air quality.

In the face of this and other data, the Trump administration18 is seeking to boost the nation’s manufacturing sector by creating industry-friendly air quality regulations, which environmentalists warn will damage the health of U.S. citizens.

In one directive, he proposed the EPA work with states whose metro areas are failing to obtain clean air standards, by helping them submit plans to show how the city will confront the problem — a review process that can take years. This represents a clear effort on the part of the administration to assist manufacturers, which the president made clear in his accompanying statement:19

“These actions are intended to ensure that EPA carries out its core missions of protecting the environment and improving air quality in accord with statutory requirements, while reducing unnecessary impediments to new manufacturing and business expansion essential for a growing economy.”

Pollution Contributes to Obesity

The journey started nearly 60 years ago when an environmental disaster in southwestern Pennsylvania forever changed the way America thought about industrial pollution.20 In 1948 the people of Donora, Pennsylvania, awoke to a thick blanket of smog that darkened the valley for five days before lifting when a storm swept through. By this time, one-third of the population had become ill, 20 people were dead and another 50 died in the following months.21

It was later learned cold air had trapped a mixture of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and metal dust over the valley, recorded as the worst air pollution disaster in U.S. history. It was this disaster that prompted the federal government to begin regulating industrial pollution.

Previous studies have looked at respiratory conditions and cardiovascular disease associated with inhaling air pollutants but more recent studies have found compelling evidence suggesting air qualitycan also contribute to weight gain and obesity. In one study22 examining over 3,000 children in California, researchers found an association between traffic density and higher levels of body mass index (BMI) by the age of 18.

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Another study23 analyzed BMI in children exposed to traffic-related air pollution over a five-year period, during which those exposed to the most pollution, compared to those exposed to the least, had a 14 percent larger increase in their BMI. Another from Harvard Medical School looked at whether adults living in areas with constant exposure to traffic were more likely to be overweight, and found more fat tissue in those who lived 60 meters (197 feet) from a busy road than those who lived 440 meters (1,443 feet) away.24

The relationship has also been found in animal studies. Chinese researchers25 compared two groups of pregnant rats, one raised in a filtered air-scrubbed room and the other breathing outdoor air from Beijing. The animals were fed the same diet, but those living in Beijing air were heavier at the end of their pregnancy as were their offspring. Autopsy findings found the rats exposed to pollutants had higher levels of inflammation, which may have contributed to weight gain and metabolic disruption.

An EPA study found mice exposed to ozone pollution developed glucose intolerance, a precursor to diabetes.26,27 In a study evaluating the physiological response in 314 overweight or obese children in Los Angeles, children who lived in neighborhoods with the highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide and particulates were found to have the greatest decline in insulin sensitivity.28

Multiple Molecules Make Up Air Pollution

Multiple types of molecules make up the fine particulate matter your body is able to absorb through lung tissue. Top pollutants include:

Ammonia Carbon monoxide
Fine particulates Lead
Nitrogen oxides Sulfur dioxide
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) Ozone

While car emissions contribute one source of air pollutions, another significant source is released into the atmosphere from synthetic nitrogen-based fertilizers at rates higher than previously believed.29 California has some of the strictest car emission standards in the U.S., but is continued to be plagued by nitrogen oxide pollution.

Scientists have known soil microbes convert nitrogen-based fertilizers to nitrogen oxides and then release them into the air. However, it was assumed the amount of gas would increase linearly, or at 1 percent of the amount of fertilizer used. These predictions turned out to be conservative,30 as emissions were measured at up to 5 percent of the fertilizer used, explaining some of the increased rates of nitrogen oxides emitted in large agricultural areas.

Unfortunately, when nitrogen oxides and VOCs combine on a sunny day, it increases the amount of ozone at ground level. VOCs are emitted by cars, power plants, refineries and chemical plants. Ozone in the upper atmosphere, called stratospheric ozone, provides a protective shield against the ultraviolet rays of the sun.31 This beneficial ozone has been partially destroyed by man-made chemicals.

However, ground level ozone, tropospheric ozone, is not admitted directly into the air but created through a chemical reaction and is a harmful pollutant. This bad ozone is the main ingredient in smog and has a higher likelihood of reaching unhealthy levels on hot sunny days, as sunlight triggers the chemical reaction between nitrogen oxides and VOCs.32 “Nitrogen oxides” is a catch-all term used to designate nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide, both of which react with oxygen and sunlight to produce ozone in the lower atmosphere.

Nanoparticles Responsible for Vascular Damage

In a study published in Environmental Pollution,33 researchers found silica nanoparticles have the ability to trigger mitochondrial dysfunction in endothelial cells by entering the mitochondria, causing swelling and increasing the intracellular level of reactive oxygen species. This eventually results in the collapse of the mitochondrial membrane and impairment in ATP synthesis.34

Silica nanoparticles were found to trigger endothelial toxicity using mitochondria as the target, which may in part explain some of the cardiovascular dysfunction triggered by PM 2.5 air pollution. Silica nanoparticles are used35 as an additive in rubber and plastics, to strengthen concrete and as a platform for biomedical applications, such as drug delivery. In other words, drugs bound to silica nanoparticles may create endothelial damage as you take prescribed medications.

However, nano-particulate damage is not new information.36 A study published by the American Chemical Society found evidence of how particles inhaled may affect your blood vessels and heart muscle.37 Air pollution has shortened the lives of nearly 40,000 people in the U.K.,38 which is often attributed to the part it plays in worsening or triggering heart and lung disease. Using humans and several mouse models, the researchers studied the effect of inhaled gold nanoparticles.

Within 24 hours after inhalation, particles were detected in the blood and urine of the participants and appeared to have an affinity for accumulating in damaged or inflamed areas of the vascular system,39suggesting nanoparticles have the ability to access the bloodstream from your lungs and reach susceptible areas of your cardiovascular system.

In some participants, the nanoparticles were still detectable in the urine three months after testing, leading researchers to theorize air pollutant nanoparticles may have the potential to make a similar journey in your body.

Researchers then asked participants scheduled for removal of damaged blood vessels to inhale gold nanoparticles.40 Following surgery the researchers analyzed the plaques and found an accumulation of nanoparticles from the prior 24 hours. Although some criticized the design of the study, it is clear air pollution damages heart and lung tissue. Coauthor of the study, Dr. Nicholas Mills, commented on the results saying:41

“We have always suspected that nanoparticles in the air that we breathe in could escape from the lungs and enter the body, but until now there was no proof. These findings are of wide importance for human health, and we must now focus our attention on reducing emissions and exposure to airborne nanoparticles.”

Mind Your Indoor Air Quality as Well

Your risk of breathing polluted air does not end when you go indoors. Indoor air pollution is also associated with a remarkable number of conditions, including worsening asthma, poor sleep, high blood pressure and reduced cognitive function. Primary sources are the materials used to construct your home and everything in it, including your furniture, as well as chemical products you bring into the home for cleaning or DIY projects.

Modern buildings are also airtight for energy efficiency purposes, and need to be properly ventilated to prevent the buildup of indoor pollution. One way to reduce your exposure to damaging outdoor air pollution is to keep your indoor air as clean as possible and stay indoors when pollution levels are high. For a list of strategies you may consider to improve your indoor air quality and protect your health see my previous article, “Reduce Indoor Air Pollution.”

Air pollution from industrial shutdowns and startups worse than thought

(The Conversation) When Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast in August 2017, many industrial facilities had to shut down their operations before the storm arrived and restart once rainfall and flooding had subsided.

These shutdowns and startups, as well as accidents caused by the hurricane, led to a significant release of air pollutants. Over a period of about two weeks, data we compiled from the Texas’ Air Emission Event Report Database indicates these sites released 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and other pollutants.

These types of emissions that result from startups, shutdowns or malfunctions are often referred to as “excess” or “upset” emissions and are particularly pronounced during times of natural disasters, as was the case with Hurricane Harvey.

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However, as we document in a newly published study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, they also occur regularly during the routine operation of many industrial facilities, sometimes in large quantities. And, even if unintended or unavoidable, the pollutants released during these events are in violation of the U.S. Clean Air Act (CAA).

With the EPA now revisiting the rules regarding these air toxics, our study shows how significant they are to public health – and how historically they have not been systematically tracked across the country or regulated comprehensively.

Excess emissions in Texas

Our study examines the occurrence of excess emissions in industrial facilities in Texas over the period from 2002 to 2016. We focused on Texas because, unlike nearly all other states, it has established comprehensive reporting requirements. The state collects data on so-called hazardous air pollutants that cause harm to people exposed to them, such as benzene, as well as substances called criteria pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides that contribute to the formation of ozone.

As a general rule, states set limits to industrial air emissions based on provisions in their State Implementation Plan (SIP), which is their strategy for meeting CAA requirements. The EPA in turn is responsible for ensuring that each state’s SIP is drafted in accordance with the CAA.

The CAA requires sources of air pollution to achieve continuous emissions reductions, which in essence means companies need to install and maintain equipment to limit the release of pollutants that happen during routine operations.

Excess emissions occur when pollution abatement systems, such as scrubbers, baghouses, or flares that curtail emissions before they are released, fail to fully operate as the result of an unexpected malfunction, startup or shutdown. That is, a facility fails to maintain continuous emissions reductions, thereby exceeding its permit limits.

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Although one might assume that such occurrences are rare, we found that excess emissions in Texas are frequent, sometimes large, and likely result in significant health damages for individuals living in communities near where these emissions are released.

Specifically, there are four important takeaways from our study.

First, excess emissions represent a sizeable share of permitted (or routine) emissions. In the case of the natural gas liquids industry, excess emissions amounted to 77 thousand tons over the period 2004-2015, representing 58 percent of the industry’s routine emissions for that pollutant. Refineries emitted 23 thousand tons of excess emissions (10 percent of their routine emissions of SO2) while oil and gas fields released 11 thousand tons (17 percent of their routine emissions of SO2).

Second, the distribution of excess emissions is highly skewed. While thousands of excess emissions events occur every year in Texas, the top 5 percent of events release more pollutants than all the other events combined. In extreme cases, excess emissions events can release vast amounts of pollutants in a very short period of time. In 2003, a Total oil refinery in Port Arthur emitted 1,296 tons of sulfur dioxide within 56 hours, due to a power outage caused by a lighting strike. That was almost twice the amount of the total sulfur dioxide that refinery emitted that year from its routine operations.

Third, several industrial sectors account for a disproportionate amount of excess emissions. Facilities in just five sectors – natural gas liquids, refineries, industrial organic chemicals, electric services and oil and natural gas fields – emit about 80 percent of all excess emissions from industrial facilities in Texas.

Estimated damages from air toxics from excess emissions by county. Reprinted with permission. Copyright (2018) American Chemical Society. Figure compiled by the authors using data from TCEQ, EASIUR, QGIS and Manson et al (2017)., Author provided (No reuse)

Moreover, a few facilities within each sector are responsible for the vast majority of excess emissions. For example, the top six oil refineries are responsible for 70 percent and 77 percent of the excess emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, respectively, released from all 30 Texas refineries.

Finally, excess emissions have important health effects. Using a model that links pollution to mortality, we estimate that the health damages attributable to excess emissions in Texas between 2004-2015 averaged US$150 million annually. These estimates are certainly not comprehensive as they only consider damages from premature mortality due to particulate matter (PM) emissions caused by the emission of sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides.

The model does not account for the direct damage from other pollutants or from nonfatal, acute health events such as asthma attacks. As such, our estimate can be considered a lower bound.

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Beyond Texas

The data we analyzed in our study reveal the magnitude of the problem caused by excess emissions. Yet, it is important to remember that they only capture the situation in Texas. We know very little about excess emissions and their trends over time at the national level. That’s because Texas is one of just a few states (the others being Louisiana and Oklahoma) that systematically track and make public information on these type of pollution releases.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has gone as far as to implement a system that requires facilities to publicly report excess emissions events within 24 hours of their occurrence, information that the TCEQ then makes available on its website.

Although Texas is unique in its reporting requirements, excess emissions events are common elsewhere as the watchdog group the Environmental Integrity Project, has documented in a series of reports.

Excess emissions are underregulated

The EPA, after decades of leaving excess emissions outside of its regulatory focus, made a concerted effort to update its approach during the final years of the Obama Administration.

Prompted by a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club, the EPA issued a State Implementation Plan (SIP) call in 2015, asking states to revisit the way they regulate excess emissions. The agency found that certain SIP provisions in 36 states were “substantially inadequate to meet Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements.”

This means that industrial facilities may have been regularly surpassing the limit of their permitted pollution limits, in part because of these excess emissions. But because of state agency exemption provisions, it could be the case that these facilities would not always be penalized. In other words, the EPA determined that many states had, as a matter of policy, often failed to treat excess emissions as violations and potentially shielded offending companies from paying fines.

The EPA is now revisiting its policy as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to scale back many of EPA regulations and decisions during the Obama era. Given the frequency, magnitude, and important adverse effects for public health, the EPA’s ultimate decision on how states should treat excess emissions is consequential.

In addition, much is still to be learned about the magnitude of the excess emissions problem across the country. If an effective regulatory framework is to be designed to reduce them, it is imperative that more states begin tracking excess emissions events in a detailed and systematic way, following the example set by Texas.

Air Pollution Is Becoming More Dangerous

388200 04: Toxic smoke blows over downtown Long Beach, CA, April 23, 2001 from a fire at the Tosco oil refinery in Carson, 15 miles south of Los Angeles. The refinery was running at full capacity, around 125,000 barrels of oil per day, when a blaze broke out in the ''coker'' unit, where petroleum coke is burned in the making of gasoline. Lost production could add to the recent spike in gasoline prices, which analysts say could hit $3 a gallon or more. The Queen Mary ship is visible behind buildings, lower left. (Photo by David McNew/Newsmakers)

(Dr. Mercola) Pollution has been named the “largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today” by a collaboration of more than 40 researchers looking at data from 130 countries. The study, published in The Lancet, revealed that 9 million premature deaths were caused by pollution in 2015, which is 16 percent of deaths worldwide — “three times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence,” the researchers wrote.1

Virtually all of the deaths (92 percent) occurred in low- and middle-income countries where, in the most polluted regions, pollution-related disease caused more than 1 in 4 deaths. That being said, pollution isn’t stagnant; it moves from one country to the next, to the extent that a sizable amount of air pollution in the western U.S. comes from China, for example. Still, as Popular Science noted, “In a classic case of what-goes-around-comes around, some 20 percent of China’s air pollution stems from the manufacturing of products for the United States.”2

Related: Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

Air Pollution Is the Leading Pollution Killer

While water, soil and chemical pollution accounted for some of the pollution-related deaths, the majority — 6.5 million — were caused by airborne contaminants. Both indoor air pollution, particularly from household cooking and burning wood for heat, and outdoor pollution, including from coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions, were problematic.

Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) refers to dust, dirt, soot and smoke — particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. It’s the most studied type of air pollution. These particulates can enter your system and cause chronic inflammation, which in turn increases your risk of a number of health problems, from cancer to heart and lung disease.

In the case of heart disease, fine particulate air pollution may increase your risk by inducing atherosclerosis, increasing oxidative stress and increasing insulin resistance, the researchers noted, adding:3

“The strongest causal associations are seen between PM 2.5 pollution and cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. Specific causal associations have been established between PM 2.5 pollution and myocardial infarction, hypertension, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias and cardiovascular mortality.

Causal associations have also been established between PM 2.5 pollution and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has reported that airborne particulate matter and ambient air pollution are proven group 1 human carcinogens.”

The health effects of air pollution don’t stop there, however, as the study cited emerging evidence showing that PM 2.5 may play a role in a number of diseases you probably wouldn’t automatically associate with air pollution, including:4

Diabetes Decreased cognitive function Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Autism Neurodegenerative disease including dementia Premature birth
Low birthweight Sudden infant death syndrome
Related: How to Detoxify and Heal the Lymphatic System

Research presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2017 International Conference even suggested poor air quality may disrupt your sleep.5 The study looked closely at the effects of two widespread pollutants, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is traffic-related air pollution and PM 2.5, which is responsible for reduced visibility. Both of the pollutants had an influence on study participants’ sleep efficiency, which is a measure of the time spent actually sleeping as opposed to lying in bed awake.

The people in the top quarter of NO2 exposure were 60 percent more likely to have low sleep efficiency over a five-year period compared to those in the lowest quarter. Among those exposed to the highest levels of fine-particle pollution, there was a 50 percent increased likelihood of low sleep efficiency.

Considering the health repercussions of lack of sleep, this is yet another way that air pollution can devastate your health. Further, pollution is only worsening in many parts of the world, the researchers noted, and without aggressive intervention deaths due to ambient air pollution could increase by more than 50 percent by 2050, they said.

Coal Combustion Remains a Major Polluter

The majority of global airborne particulate pollution — 85 percent — comes from fuel combustion, with coal being the “world’s most polluting fossil fuel.”6 Even in the U.S., an estimated 200,000 premature deaths are caused by combustion emissions, including that from vehicles and power generation.7

Must Read: Heal Cavities, Gum Disease, Naturally with Organic Oral Care – Toothpaste recipes included

In a study of electric power generation in the U.S., which is coal-intensive, a study published in the journal Energy revealed that switching to natural gas for electricity generation could lead to significant benefits.8 Study author Jay Apt, a professor at Tepper School of Business, Engineering and Public Policy and co-director of Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center at Carnegie Mellon University, wrote in The Conversation:9

“Switching from coal to natural gas would reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 90 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 60 percent. These compounds are major causes of fine particulate pollution. Reductions on this level would lower the total cost of national annual human health damages by US$20 billion to $50 billion annually. We found that the Southeast and the Ohio Valley, where most of the coal is burned, would capture the lion’s share of these benefits.”

The Lancet authors, while citing a benefit in shifting the energy sector from coal-fired plants to gas-fired plants, took it a step further, noting that an even better solution would be shifting to low-polluting renewable energy sources such as wind, tidal, geothermal and solar options. “These interventions not only reduce pollution and improve the cardiorespiratory health of entire populations, but they will also sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the efficiency of electricity generation,” they wrote.10

Industrialized Farming Is Another Major Source of Air Pollution

Another major cause of air pollution in much of the U.S., China, Russia and Europe is linked to farming and fertilizer — specifically to the nitrogen component of fertilizer used to supposedly enrich the soil and grow bigger crops.11 Research published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters even demonstrated that in certain densely populated areas, emissions from farming far outweigh other sources of particulate matter air pollution.12 As nitrogen fertilizers break down into their component parts, ammonia is released into the air.

Ammonia is one of the byproducts of fertilizer and animal waste. When the ammonia in the atmosphere reaches industrial areas, it combines with pollution from diesel and petroleum combustion, creating microparticles. Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) workers and neighboring residents alike report higher incidence of asthma, headaches, eye irritation and nausea.

Research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine also revealed that markers of lung function were related to how far they lived from CAFOs.13 The closer they lived to the factory farms, and the greater the density of livestock, the more impairments in lung function were revealed. Lung function of neighboring residents declined in concert with increased levels of CAFO-caused ammonia air pollution, the study revealed.14

What You Eat Can Help Buffer the Effects of Air Pollution

According to a 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) report, only 8 percent of people worldwide are breathing air that meets WHO standards, which means 92 percent of the world population is breathing polluted air.15 While you might not have control over the pollution levels outside your home, you do have control over what you eat.

Related: Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

The latter is good news, because certain dietary measures can have a protective effect. Overall, you should strive to eat a diet of whole foods, rich in anti-inflammatory vegetables and healthy fats. Among the most important dietary interventions to try include:16

  • Omega-3 fats: They’re anti-inflammatory, and in a study of 29 middle-aged people, taking an animal-based omega-3 fat supplement reduced some of the adverse effects to heart health and lipid levels, including triglycerides, that occurred with exposure to air pollution (olive oil did not have the same effect).17
  • Broccoli sprouts: Broccoli-sprout extract was shown to prevent the allergic nasal response that occurs upon exposure to particles in diesel exhaust, such that the researchers suggested broccoli or broccoli sprouts could have a protective effect on air pollution’s role in allergic disease and asthma.18 A broccoli-sprout beverage even enhanced the detoxification of some airborne pollutants among residents of a highly polluted region of China.19
  • Vitamins C and E: Among children with asthma, antioxidant supplementation including vitamins C and E helped to buffer the impact of ozone exposure on their small airways.20
  • B vitamins: A small-scale human trial found high doses of vitamins B6, B9 and B12 in combination completely offset damage caused by very fine particulate matter in air pollution.21 Four weeks of high-dose supplementation reduced genetic damage in 10 gene locations by 28 to 76 percent, protected mitochondrial DNA from the harmful effects of pollution, and even helped repair some of the genetic damage.

How to Reduce Air Pollution in Your Home

Attention to proper indoor air quality is important, and purifying your home’s air is a good start. Commercially purchased air filters may change measurements of health, include lowering the amount of C-reactive protein and other measurements of inflammation and blood vessel function.22 However, not all filters work with the same efficiency to remove pollutants from your home, and no one filter can remove all pollutants, so be sure to do your research on the different types of air filters to meet your specific needs.

Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) is one of the best technologies available. Rather than filtering the air, PCO actually acts as an air purifier, cleaning the air using ultraviolet (UV) light. Unlike filters, which simply trap pollutants, PCO transforms the pollutants into nontoxic substances. Typically, this occurs when the UV light reacts with a titanium dioxide film and water, creating hydroxyl radicals that essentially oxidize the pollutants, rendering them harmless.

Research has shown that, in the presence of air pollutants from building materials and furniture, PCO improves indoor air quality based on both sensory assessments made by study participants as well as measurements such as Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS).23 Beyond PCO, another option is to add house plants, which help to absorb indoor air pollution.

Further, one of the simplest and easiest ways to reduce the pollution count in your home is to open the windows and let some fresh air in (assuming the outdoor air isn’t overly polluted). Because most homes have little air leakage, opening the windows for as little as 15 minutes every day can improve the quality of the air you’re breathing. You may also want to consider cracking the window at night while you sleep. Installing an attic fan is another way of bringing fresh air into your home and reducing your toxic load from air pollutants.