Thousands of North deaths blamed on pollution

Apr 15 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

THOUSANDS of people have died in recent years from pneumonia caused by pollution, a study out today will say – with the problem particularly bad in the North.

The study will say there is a “strong correlation” between the pneumonia deaths, engine exhaust fumes and other transport-related substances, while for those living in the North, smoking and binge drinking were also cited as factors associated with conditions such as pneumonia, heart disease and lung cancer.

Details on atmospheric emissions, published causes of death and expected causes of death were examined for the research.

And when the social factors were taken into account, the data revealed that deaths from pneumonia were strongly and independently linked to emissions, with the exception of sulphur dioxide from coal burning.

Professor George Knox, emeritus professor at the University of Birmingham, carried out the study which is published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

He said: “Correlations with pneumonia deaths were exceptional.

“High mortality rates were observed in areas with elevated ambient pollution levels. The strongest single effect was an increase in pneumonia deaths.

“Road transport was the chief source of the emissions responsible, although it was not possible to discriminate between the different chemical components.”

Prof Knox said evidence suggests the pollutants directly damage lung tissue because the links are so strong across all categories of exposure and deaths were so much higher than would be expected.

He concluded: “The main finding was a strong correlation between deaths from pneumonia and engine exhaust emissions, together with other transport-related substances.

“The pneumonia correlations far exceeded those of all other SMR (disease-specific standardised mortality ratios) in every class of exposure, suggesting a direct lung contact injury.”

Dr David Spencer, consultant respiratory paediatrician at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle said smoking was still the most significant obstacle in fighting pneumonia.

“There are many different types of pollution and smoking is a particularly important one. The problem with the North East is not a question of geography per se, it is more a marker of socio-economic factors.

“As well as smoking and drinking there is also inadequate housing – they all contribute towards respiratory tract infections. Not being familiar with the study, I wouldn’t want to comment on the issue of pollution from car exhausts.”

The data, which came from 352 local authority areas in England between 1996 and 2004, was used to calculate the impact of pollution on death rates.

In total, 386,374 people died from pneumonia in the whole of England during the eight-year period but there were widespread regional variations.

In the 35 local authorities with the highest disease-specific death rates, there were 53,821 pneumonia deaths.

This was 14,718 more pneumonia deaths than the expected national rate, the study showed.