Children and elderly are most vulnerable to contamination by PM2, 5

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/Ninos/ancianos/vulnerables/contaminacion/PM25/elpepiespmad/20110111elpmad_1/Tes

Children and elderly are most vulnerable to contamination by PM2, 5 Suspended particles cause a sharp increase in hospital admissions in the emergency department of Madrid, according to two studies ELENA G. SEVILLANO - Madrid - 11/01/2011
Children and elderly are most vulnerable to air pollution. It's something that has long been known that many scientific studies have proven.
Children and elderly are most vulnerable to air pollution. It's something that has long been known that many scientific studies have proven, but the team of researchers from Instituto de Salud Carlos III who studies the relationship between suspended particles PM2, 5-named for measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter, and the adverse effects they have on health have demonstrated in two recent papers a clear statistical relationship between high concentrations of this pollutant, which comes almost 90% of traffic and cars emit six times more diesel engines than gasoline-and hospital admissions in Madrid.
The two studies are based on a single database: the daily income in the emergency department of the Gregorio Maranon hospital for all causes except accidents and injuries in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005. The first paper, published in Gaceta Sanitaria mid-2009, analyzes the impact of particulate matter PM
2.5 on the income of children under 10 years. The authors, Cristina Linares and Julio Diaz, performed a statistical analysis which included data from other air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide, ozone, PM10 ...), noise pollution, pollen from different species, weather variables as daily minimum and maximum temperature, presence or absence of influenza epidemics, etc., on those dates, the latest of which possessed when they started working in the studio.
The paper concludes that the PM2, 5 are the only primary pollutant found related hospital admissions. The concentrations of these particles "have important effects on the health of children," he said. "The increase in diesel vehicles, which emit a large extent these particles, suggests that it is a contaminant to be a growing trend in the near future and, therefore, is necessary to adopt measures to decrease concentrations. The authors also note that the existence of a linear relationship between these particles and income in the emergency department is similar to that found in somewhat larger particles, PM10, "but what makes the difference is the sharp increase is detected in hospital admissions for concentrations close to 25 micrograms per cubic meter. " The World Health Organization (WHO), says the study, states that average daily concentration as a guideline value for health protection, ie, from then on increased mortality in the general population. Daily mean concentrations of PM2, 5 in Madrid between 2003 and 2005 ranged between 5 and 71 micrograms per cubic meter, with an average of 19.2. The value of 25 is exceeded in one out of five of the days studied.
Another study by the same authors published in the journal Public Health in 2010, also showed the relationship between the concentrations of PM2, 5 and incomes in the emergency department Marañón people over 75 years for cardiovascular and respiratory causes. The authors recorded a total income of 23,000 between 2003 and 2005. Of these, almost 7,700 were for circulatory causes (including heart attacks, stroke, ischemic diseases ...) and 6,400 to respiratory causes. Patients over 75 years in this period accounted for 25% of all admissions to hospital in Madrid hospital.
The particles PM2, 5 proved to be the only primary pollutant "statistically significant in all models." The study found that every increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of pollution represented a 3.8% increase in revenue for all causes. In the case of the circulatory, the risk increased by 6.2% and the respiratory, 4.9%, which would double with a concentration of 20 micrograms, would triple to 30, and so on.
The statistical models they worked with the researchers allowed to know also when the increase in pollution affecting income. For all causes were circulatory and for the same day. In the case of the respiratory, the increase was the third day. "If a city got lower concentrations of PM2, 5, would result in fewer hospital admissions and, by extension, lower healthcare costs," he reflects.
"Older people meet two conditions that affect them most pollution," said José Miguel Rodríguez González-Moro, president of the Madrid Society of Pneumology. "They have underlying diseases and their defense mechanisms are impaired." Children and elderly are the most vulnerable, he adds. The particles PM2, 5 are especially harmful because they are so small they penetrate easily into the airway. "Those who remain in the throat or trachea are coughed and expelled, but the small reach the bronchi and lungs," he adds.
The same thing happens to children whose respiratory system is still immature. "The contamination usually causes inflammation of the airway, the particles are deposited in the bronchi," said Manuel Sánchez Solís, president of the Society of Pediatric Pulmonology. "Children have smaller roads, narrower, so the blocking inflammation more easily." This inflammation, in itself, "and creates more revenue, especially in the case of asthma."
The two papers, which study the relationship between particulate matter and health effects in the short term, remember that the WHO sets the annual ceiling of PM2, 5 in 10 micrograms/m3 and Madrid, between 2003 and 2005, doubled that figure. In 2009, the net metering had a concentration of 13. Nevertheless, the city meets European legislation regarding PM2, 5.