Pollutants are Linked (Again) with Raised Mortality from all Causes

Outdoor air pollution (raised levels of particulate matter <2.5 micron / PM2.5) of nitrous dioxide, ozone and black carbon is linked with increased risk of death.

This collaborative study of eight European groups of some 325,000 adults over nearly 20 years has shown that, exposures even in levels below what have been recommended as “safe” by the World Health Organisation and European and American Standards, there is an increased risk of mortality from all causes. (Brit Med Journal 4.9.2021p269)

It effectively resonates with the findings of the British Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in 2016, which raised awareness that up to 52,000 premature deaths in British cities, attributed to severe asthma, cardiovascular disease or cancer, are actually caused by diesel exhaust particulates.

None of these studies seems to propose changing the recognition, prevention or management of these conditions with “cause-focused” methods, mainly because no routine tests are available to assess / confirm the risk; whilst such studies gradually force governments to take measures in cities to reduce pollution, doctors carry on using the same old “reactive” measures to life threatening diseases.

In 2013, an 11 year old girl in South London, who died from "severe asthma", became the first person in Britain to have the have “Pollution” mentioned as a cause in her death certificate.

Yet, there are today ways to assess the impact of such environmental risk factors on an individual: the state of the immune system (CD T-cells), body metal load, bio-markers reflecting poor anti-oxidant defences, which can lead to forms of detoxification well before a diagnosis of a life threatening condition is made. In my experience, people start thinking too late about this risk, unless they are better informed (See Treatments: Chelation, Phospholipid Therapy and Intravenous Nutrition).

With the exception of heridary disorders and accidents, it is hard to think of chronic conditions or any form of chronic inflammation, often leading to a shorter life expectancy, where environmental factors such as diet, pathogens/infections, aero-allergens or chemicals can definitely be ruled out as aetiological agents. The documentation of such links remains dangerously elusive in day to day Medicine.