Road dust - health effects and abatement strategies

World Spirometry Day

Christer Johansson — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:40:08 +0000

In connection to the Year of the Lung 2010 a public screening of lungfunction using spirometry will take place at the Central Station in the City of Stockholm on October 14-15. October 14 is the World Spirometry Day and a number of events will take place all over the world. On this day, anybody can test their lung function free of charge, in a simple way. The idea is to raise awareness of lung diseases. A similar event took place in 2007 where 2800 people participated and the results will be published in Läkartidningen in June 2010 (only in Swedish).

For more information contact:

Anne-Sophie Merritt, Karolinska Institute

anne-sophie.merritt@ki.se

Saharan dust increase mortality

Christer Johansson — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:19:09 +0000

Saharan dust outbreaks may have adverse health effects. Winds from the Sahra desert region sometimes give raise to very high concentrations of coarse particles (2.5 to 10 micrometer in diameter). The chemical composition and size of saharan dust is in many ways similar to the stone minerals present in road dust. Periods with high concentrations of saharan dust have been associated with increased mortality in both Spain , Cyprus and Italy. Results will be presented at this conference by Francesco Forastiere.

Information on air quality for asthmatics

Christer Johansson — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:31:19 +0000

The Stockholm – Uppsala Air Quality Management Association finances a project aiming at providing special information on the air quality for people suffering from asthma. The air pollutants considered are ozone, vehicle exhaust and road dust particles. Epidemiological studies have shown that these pollutants may lead to increased number of hospital admissions for asthmatics. So by using the relationship between the levels of these different pollutants a ”total pollution level of adverse effects on asthmatics” may be estimated. This total pollution level will also include the effect of pollen, since the levels of some pollen also affect emergency room visits due to severe asthma symptoms. Both realtime and prognoses of air quality and pollen levels will be used to present maps on the internet of the total pollution levels.

During 3 months in 2009, a number of asthmatics were asked to keep a diary on their asthma problems. The diary data will be compared to calculated total pollution according to the model developed in this project. When the system is in operation with maps and information on the internet, some asthmatics will be asked to evaluate the quality of this information for their daily life situation. The asthmatics involved in this are part of a European research project on asthma and allergy, GA2LEN, Global Allergy and Asthma European Network. A possible future extension is to provide the information via SMS or e-mail.

The project is performed in co-operation between SLB analys at the Environment and Health Administration of Stockholm and Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University.

Short-term health effects of road dust

Christer Johansson — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:35:37 +0000

The short term health effects of road dust is currently studied in an epidemiological time series study in Stockholm. The project is performed in co-operation between the Department of of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå university (Bertil Forsberg and Kadri Meister) and SLB analys of the Environment and Health Administration in Stockholm. An earlier study showed increased number of hospital admissions due to the effect of road dust on the airways, and also increased mortality, but the effect on mortality was not statistically signifcant. The new study includes another 4 years with air pollution and health data and the aim is to obtain more robust risk estimates of the effects of road dust on mortality and morbidity among Stockholmers (Read more; only in Swedish). Results from this study will be presented by Bertil Forsberg at this conference.

The project is financed by the Office of Regional Planning, Stockholm County Council.

NORTRIP

Christer Johansson — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:05:28 +0000

A research project on road dust formation

15 researchers from Sweden, Finland and Denmark co-operates to understand the controlling factors for the generation of airborne road dust. A project financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers.