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Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientists track 25 years of submicron air pollution particles across US skies
Air pollution is a serious and often underestimated health threat in the U.S. It is linked to over 50,000 premature deaths each year. Tiny particles in the air, like PM2.5, can get embedded into a person's lungs and bloodstream, leading to chronic heart and lung problems. PM2.5 refers to particulate matter that is smaller than 2.5 micron. While scientists have studied these particles for decades, far less is known about PM1— even smaller at under 1 micron—whose effect on human health could be equally lethal, if not more. A new study from Washington University in St. Louis, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, has mapped 25 years of PM1 air pollution across the United States. The findings offer a starting point for identifying which pollutants regulators should target to improve public health. The research also builds on the university's expertise in satellite sensing and atmospheric modeling. According to Chi Li, research assistant professor at the university's Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group and lead author of the study, the new estimates will help researchers better understand the impact of submicron particles. These tiny particles often come from direct emissions, like black carbon from diesel engines or smoke from wildfires. They can also form indirectly when pollutants such as sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides are released from fuel combustion and coal burning. Rather than being made of a single substance, air particles are usually mixtures of various materials layered together. Li noted that larger particles are often dominated by components like mineral dust, which are more difficult to regulate or reduce. The researchers estimated PM1 levels by analyzing the known composition of PM2.5 particles, which include seven main components such as sulfate, nitrate, and mineral dust. By combining these elements, the team was able to calculate PM1 concentrations across the US. The study lays the groundwork for deeper analysis of where these tiny particles tend to concentrate, how they form, and what impacts they have on both human health and the environment. PM1 pollution particles may be more harmful because they can penetrate deeper into the body, slipping past natural defenses. These submicron particles are at least six times smaller than a blood cell. According to Jay Turner, the James McKelvey Professor of Engineering Education and co-author of the study, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first set air quality standards for fine particulate matter in 1997, there was significant debate over whether to regulate PM1 or PM2.5. Due to limited health impact research on PM1 compared to PM2.5, the EPA chose to focus on PM2.5. However, the new dataset revealed encouraging insights: pollution regulation has significantly reduced PM1 levels across the contiguous U.S. from 1998 to 2022, largely due to environmental policies like the Clean Air Act. But this progress has slowed since 2010, mainly because of increasing wildfire activity. Although countries like China have gotten a head start in tracking PM1, U.S. can catch up with the help of this comprehensive nationwide dataset. The next step will entail collaboration with epidemiologists to assess how exposure to these tiny particles relates to various health outcomes.
RNZ News
01-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
World-First NZ study could help stamp out superbugs by mapping antimicrobial resistance hot spots
An illustration of the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough. Photo: 123RF A world-first study, led by the University of Canterbury, could help reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance, considered one of the greatest health threats facing humanity. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when pathogens like bacteria and fungi evolve to withstand antibiotics. The project, which is currently a grant proposal, is being led by Professor Jack Heinemann of Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, University of Canterbury's School of Biological Sciences. He said the research will map reservoirs of AMR across New Zealand to pinpoint areas of resistance, making it the first country in the world to know where its hot spots are located. It's hoped the university's research could be adopted and used by governments, private businesses, and communities internationally. "The reason it's a world first is because there aren't any countries yet on the scale that we are proposing to do this that have mapped their antimicrobial resistance so that they can apply a One Health approach to control the flow of antimicrobial resistance between the environment, agriculture and humans," he said. "We have an advantage in New Zealand because we're an island and it's possible for us to limit the number of variables that could complicate a study like this." "But at the same time, we're pretty big for such a study of this nature and that combined makes this a world first potential to tell us where resistance tends to accumulate, how to keep it there or eliminate it once we find it and work towards a world that doesn't just manage antimicrobial resistance but actually stamps it out." The University of Canterbury professor said that in the last century, antibiotic-resistant microorganisms have spread across the land, air and water in far greater numbers as the world's population, antibiotic use, and industrial pollution have grown. "The bacteria are now found everywhere, including places far removed from human activity like Antarctica and the bottom of the ocean," he said. "So much of our existence is dependent on antibiotics because they're used to control infectious diseases as they arise and to grow crops and livestock to the levels we need to produce food for so many people. It's reached a point where it is now an existential threat to our way of life and even to our species." "Even a small growth in the proportion of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics can cost the global healthcare system tens to hundreds of billions of dollars." He said AMR was quickly becoming a massive challenge for the New Zealand health system and was being exacerbated by global events. "In New Zealand, AMR is growing. We've had times where hospital wards have been closed because of superbugs, which are resistant to antimicrobials. We're also frequently getting resistance in our agricultural areas. "Being an island, we control more variables than lots of other countries could control, and then the point of our study is to understand how we can track these sources of resistance. "The problem with antimicrobial resistance is that it is growing to the point where it can no longer be ignored, and it is in magnitude and cost and in threat to your health well in excess of other kinds of threats that we do talk about quite a lot. "Climate change, war, all these kinds of different pressures that we are under are further exacerbated by antimicrobial resistance as the weather changes. "It changes the kinds of organisms that carry these pathogens into our communities and into agriculture, it changes their survival characteristics, flooding, for example, distributes them sometimes directly into our homes," he said. A team of about six full-time staff, including two Māori researchers, three postdoctoral students and a graduate, will work alongside a network of volunteers and other organisations across the country that trap and kill pest animals to collect samples for testing. Bioinformaticians will develop algorithms, assisted by machine learning, to see potential concerns emerge in real-time. If successfully funded, the five-year project would cost less than $10 million, with research starting before the end of 2025. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
