High rates of asthma in Accokeek and Southern Maryland may be related to air traffic
When researchers warned about the use of lead in gasoline, paint, and other household products, it took many decades for the government and the public to acknowledge this fact.
When researchers warned about the use of asbestos, it took many decades for the government and the public to acknowledge this fact.
When researchers warned about the use of tobacco products, it took many decades for the government and the public to acknowledge this fact.
How long will the government and the public take to acknowledge this fact? A high rate of asthma may be related to air traffic.
Determining the time it takes for the government and the public to acknowledge a potential relationship between high asthma rates and air traffic is difficult to predict. The acknowledgment and acceptance of scientific findings can vary depending on several factors, including the strength of the evidence, the level of public awareness and concern, and the influence of various stakeholders.
In the case of lead, asbestos, and tobacco, it took several decades for the government and the public to recognize and address the associated health risks fully. However, it's important to note that each situation is unique, and the response time can vary.
Regarding the potential link between high asthma rates and air traffic, it is crucial to rely on rigorous scientific research conducted by experts in the field. Epidemiological studies, environmental assessments, and health impact assessments can provide valuable insights into the relationship between air traffic and respiratory health.
Suppose reputable research consistently demonstrates a significant association between air traffic and asthma rates. In that case, it can increase the likelihood of the issue being acknowledged and addressed by the government and the public. However, the recognition process and subsequent actions can involve various factors, such as political will, economic considerations, and public pressure.
Encouraging ongoing research, promoting public awareness, and engaging relevant stakeholders is essential to ensure that potential health risks are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate measures are taken to protect public health.
https://envhealthcenters.usc.edu/2019/02/ultrafine-particle-pollution-lax.html
https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0529-lax-pollution-20140529-story.html
Jet engine exhaust - a health hazard
You should be concerned about the health effects of jet engine exhaust from airplanes passing over your home. Please read the following articles.
Please visit this website: https://lae.mit.edu/air-quality/
“Air pollution is responsible for millions of early deaths each year, and every human activity – from manufacturing, to agriculture, to aviation – plays its part in this problem. As aviation grows as an industry, so too will the effect it has on air quality. Under existing conditions, aircraft emissions are thought to be responsible for around ten thousand premature deaths per year."
“The Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment is a research lab in the MIT Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics. The team is interdisciplinary, covering expertise in Aeronautical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Atmospheric Science and Economics.”
Please read this article: - Study: Noise from LaGuardia Flight Path May Cause Serious Health Problems for Some Queens Residents August 22, 2018 at 4:15 pm
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/08/22/lawmaker-calls-for-change-in-laguardia-flight-path/
“NEW YORK (CBS New York) — An ear-opening study reveals that noise coming from planes going in and out of LaGuardia Airport could be shaving time off the lives of some Queens residents.
Tom Myers and his neighbors say the flight path over their Bayside, Queens, homes make them feel like they live at the airport. “From 6 in the morning ’til even 9 o’clock at night.....Myers said the incessant aircraft noise is killing him and now a new study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, says the sound of blaring jet engines could actually shorten his lifespan....Dr. Peter Muennig said. Muennig, a professor of health policy and management at Columbia University, led the study. It looks at the flight path known as “Tennis Climb.”......But Muennig said by reviewing other studies on the affect of aircraft noise, his study found the Tennis Climb route could cause serious health problems. “Sometimes if they fly at night when people are trying to sleep, and it disrupts children studying, and just basically creates a lot of anxiety. And that anxiety translates into heart disease,” Muennig said...”
Please read this article: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15081753
(ISSN 1660-4601; CODEN: IJERGQ; ISSN 1661-7827 for printed edition)
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(8), 1753; Objectives: Airports in the U.S. have gradually been transitioning to automated flight systems. These systems generate new flight paths over populated areas. While they can improve flight efficiency, the increased noise associated with these novel flight patterns potentially pose serious health threats to the overflown communities. In this case study, we estimated the monetary benefits relative to health losses associated with one significant change in flight patterns at LaGuardia Airport, year-round use of “TNNIS Climb”, which happened in 2012 as a result of flight automation in New York City. Prior to that, the use of the TNNIS Climb was limited to the U.S. Open tennis matches. Methods: We developed a decision-analytic model using Markov health states to compare the costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained associated with the limited use of TNNIS (old status quo) and the year-round use of TNNIS (current status quo). The TNNIS Climb increases airplane noise to above 60 decibels (dB) over some of the most densely populated areas of the city. We used this increased exposure to noise as the basis for estimating ground-level health using data from sound monitors. The total costs (including both direct and indirect costs), QALYs, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were estimated for the limited versus the year-round use of the TNNIS Climb. Results: The incremental lifetime costs and QALYs per person exposed to noise associated with the limited versus the year-round use of TNNIS was $11,288, and 1.13, respectively. Therefore, the limited use of TNNIS had an ICER of $10,006/QALY gained relative to the year-round of TNNIS. Our analyses were robust to changes in assumptions and data inputs. Conclusions: Despite increases in efficiency, flight automation systems without a careful assessment of noise might generate flight paths over densely populated areas and cause serious health conditions for the overflown communities.
Please read this article: The Trade-Off between Optimizing Flight Patterns and Human Health: A Case Study of Aircraft Noise in Queens, NY, USA
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/8/1753/htm
Objectives: Airports in the U.S. have gradually been transitioning to automated flight systems. These systems generate new flight paths over populated areas. While they can improve flight efficiency, the increased noise associated with these novel flight patterns potentially pose serious health threats to the overflown communities.... Conclusions: Despite increases in efficiency, flight automation systems without a careful assessment of noise might generate flight paths over densely populated areas and cause serious health conditions for the overflown communities.
Please read this article: The Boston Globe newspaper: Lung illnesses more likely near Logan Airport. Study doesn’t find higher rates of heart disease, hearing lose
By David Abel and Zachary T. Sampson GLOBE STAFF | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT MAY 29, 2014 Children who live in neighborhoods bordering Logan International Airport are as much as four times more likely to wheeze, experience shortness of breath, and exhibit other signs of undiagnosed asthma compared with children who live farther away, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday night.
To read the 132-page report go to:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/logan-airport-health-study#study-presentation-
The study, commissioned by the Legislature 14 years ago and only now finished, also found that adults who have lived near the airport for three or more years in parts of East Boston, South Boston, Chelsea, and Winthrop — are nearly twice as likely to experience chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than those living in communities with less exposure to air pollution from planes taking off and landing.
Please read this article: - Plane Exhaust Kills More People Than Plane Crashes. Toxic pollutants kill at least ten thousand annually, study says. - MASON INMAN, FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEWS
“Earlier studies had assumed that people were harmed only by the emissions from planes while taking off and landing. The new research is the first to give a comprehensive estimate of the number of premature deaths from all airline emissions. "We found that unregulated emissions from [planes flying] above 3,000 feet [914 meters] were responsible for most of the deaths," said study leader Steven Barrett, an aeronautical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Airplane exhaust, like car exhaust, contains a variety of air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Many of these particles of pollution are tiny, about a hundred millionths of an inch wide, or smaller than the width of a human hair. So-called particulate matter that's especially small is the main culprit in human health effects, especially since the particulates can become wedged deep in the lung and possibly enter the bloodstream, scientists say.”
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101005-planes-pollution-deaths-science-environment/
Please read this article: - Particulate pollution in the air we breathe kills thousands a year, study finds
“A new study links exposure to it to more than 107,000 premature deaths in the United States in 2011.It isn’t just killing us; it cost the country $866 billion, more than double the value of all the economic activity in a country like Ireland,according to the study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Particulate matter, or particle pollution, is the mix of solid and liquid droplets floating in the air, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It can come in the form of dirt, dust, soot or smoke. Particulate pollution comes from coal- and natural gas-fired plants. Cars, agriculture, unpaved roads, construction sites and wildfires can also create it.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/health/particle-pollution-study/index.html
Please read this article: - Aircraft noise linked with heart problems
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/aircraft-noise-linked-with-heart-problems/
Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - “Boston, MA — Older people exposed to aircraft noise, especially at high levels, may face increased risk of being hospitalized for cardiovascular disease, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). Researchers found that, on average, zip codes with 10-decibel higher aircraft noise had a 3.5% higher cardiovascular hospital admission rate.
It is the first major study to estimate the association between residential exposure to aircraft noise and cardiovascular hospitalizations, using data on the nationally representative U.S. population age 65 and older and noise data from airports across the country.
“It was surprising to find that living close to an airport, and therefore being exposed to aircraft noise, can adversely affect your cardiovascular health, even beyond exposure to air pollution and traffic noise,” said senior author [[Francesca Dominici]], professor of biostatistics and associate dean of information technology at HSPH.”
Please read this article: Los Angeles Times: Planes' exhaust could be harming communities up to 10 miles from LAX - By DAN WEIKEL and TONY BARBOZA
“High levels of potentially harmful exhaust particles from jets using Los Angeles International Airport have been detected in a broad swath of densely populated communities up to 10 miles east of the runways, a new air quality study reported Thursday….The research, believed to be the most comprehensive of its type, found that takeoffs and landings at LAX are a major source of ultrafine particles. They are being emitted over a larger area than previously thought, the study states, and in amounts about equal in magnitude to those from a large portion of the county's freeways.”
https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0529-lax-pollution-20140529-story.html
Most of us can hear noise from low-flying aircraft. We may think the noise is only a nuisance.
“Noise is defined as “unwanted sound.” Aircraft noise is one, if not the most detrimental environmental effect of aviation. It can cause community annoyance, disrupt sleep, adversely affect children's academic performance, and increase cardiovascular disease risk in people in the vicinity of airports.” - National Institute of Health (NIH)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5437751/
Do YOU live under a flight path? You may be at risk of a heart attack: Study finds rates are 70 percent higher in noisiest areas
New Jersey medics cross-referenced heart attack data with noise pollution levels
Heart attack risk was 72% higher in areas with noise levels higher than 65 dB
This meant noise pollution caused one in 20 of the state's 16k heart attacks
Authors said noise pollution from transport can lead to stress and inflammation
By JOHN ELY SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13:44 EDT, 23 March 2022 | UPDATED: 14:12 EDT, 23 March 2022
Follow this link to read the article.
