Even low levels of air pollution can harm your health.

Air pollution contributes to dementia and asthma can start to be exposed to air pollution from traffic. (Photo: clone)

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Even low levels of air pollution can harm health. The information comes from a study conducted by the Health Effects Institute (USA). To arrive at this statement, the researchers analyzed the cleanest places in the world, under the premise of helping governments think of future ways to manage the harmful effects of pollutants.

Although Canada’s air is relatively clean, the study found that nearly 8,000 Canadians die early each year from air pollution. Remarkably, even people in the cleanest areas were experiencing an impact on their health.

The researchers point out that there is no way to determine the minimum “acceptable” contamination. These findings suggest that important health benefits can be achieved through continued reductions in air pollution and stricter regulatory standards, including in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom.

“Given that we have not established a ‘safe’ level of air pollution, we should rethink our approach and focus on continuous reductions year-over-year rather than just establishing fixed concentration standards that are only reviewed every five to 10 years. The health implications are significant,” the authors wrote. very”.

Previous studies have warned that air pollution contributes to dementia and asthma can start being exposed to air pollution from traffic. While the UK and European countries are committed to reducing average particulate pollution and the total pollution generated by each country, mounting evidence underscores the need for action to improve air pollution everywhere and especially for the most vulnerable.

Infectious diseases

An international team of scientists has found that up to 58% of human infectious diseases could be exacerbated by the effects of climate change. This means that contact with thousands of infectious agents must be increased and many of these pathogens may shift with the change in the global scenario.

Published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, the systematic review – an investigation comparing results from other studies – on the effects of climate change on health, led by researchers from the University of Hawaii in the US and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Of the 375 diseases that affect humans [rastreadas no estudo]We found that 218 of them – more than half – could be affected by climate change,” the authors detail in an article for the Conversation platform.

To cite some examples of how climate change is affecting the spread of disease, the team of scientists comments that a greater number of floods could lead to a wave of cases of hepatitis or even leptospirosis. It is common in Brazil to notice an increase in the two diseases after heavy rainy seasons.

On the other extreme, regions with prolonged droughts or where large areas have been devastated can bring wild animals closer to humans. This connection can favor different types of zoonoses and even the emergence of new ones.

Now, the average increase in temperatures can help the breeding of different species of mosquitoes. Under these conditions, some diseases can spread more easily, such as malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika.

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