Smog exposure causes premature death

Scientific report links smog exposure to premature death

(LiveNews.com.au)
Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a US report shows.

The findings contradict arguments made by some White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently, and that the number of saved lives should not be calculated in determining clean air benefits.

The National Academy of Sciences report released today by a panel of the Academy’s National Research Council says government agencies “should give little or no weight” to such arguments.

“The committee has concluded from its review of health-based evidence that short-term exposure to ambient ozone is likely to contribute to premature deaths,” the 13-member panel said.

It added that “studies have yielded strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can exacerbate lung conditions, causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially lead to death.”

The panel examined short-term exposure – up to 24 hours – to high levels of ozone, but said more studies also were needed on long-term chronic exposure where the risk of premature death “may be larger than those observed in acute effects studies alone.”

The Academy’s report “could have important consequences” on such future disputes, said lawyer Vicky Patton of the advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund.

She said the OMB in a number of air pollution regulations has sought to minimize the relationship of pollution and premature deaths, resulting in a lower calculation of health benefits from pollution reductions.

“This has been used by industry to try to attack health standards by minimising the societal benefits,” said Patton. (Source)

Related Links:

• EPA Defies Supreme Court on Climate Change
• Analysis Shows Effective Action on Climate Change Will Have Little Impact on U.S. Economy
• Report confirms ozone pollution can kill

• Pittsburgh, Los Angeles have worst U.S. air pollution

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If you’re flying to Beijing for the Olympics …

Make sure you sample the barreled water

In China’s southwestern province of Guizhou, polluted barreled water has made more than 200 ill. The victims feel ill with hepatitis A.

“The source of the water was heavily polluted and its production lacked strict sterilization,” according to Beijing News. News Report

According to a report, about half the water used in coolers in the Olympics host city could be tainted.

Hep A: An acute infectious disease of the liver

Hepatitis A, (formerly known as infectious hepatitis), is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by Hepatitis A virus, which is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water. Every year, approximately 10 million people worldwide are infected with the virus. The time between infection and the appearance of the symptoms, (the incubation period), is between two and six weeks and the average incubation period is 28 days.

Electron micrograph of hepatitis A virions. Source: CDC

In developing countries, and in regions with poor hygiene standards, the incidence of infection with this virus approaches 100% and the illness is usually contracted in early childhood. Hepatitis A infection causes no clinical signs and symptoms in over 90% of these children and since the infection confers lifelong immunity, the disease is of no special significance to the indigenous population. In Europe, the United States and other industrialised countries, on the other hand, the infection is contracted primarily by susceptible young adults, most of whom are infected with the virus during trips to countries with a high incidence of the disease. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Deep F*cking Greencovered Corporations

The following post was submitted by Lisa G., a guest contributor.

The Deep F*cking Greencovered Corporations and Their Fecal Brownfaced NGOs

The usual mix of the deep f*cking greencovered corporations and their fecal brownfaced NGOs are at it again. This time they have come up with a deep green branding campaign (what no Saatchi and Saatchi?) called FORTUNE’s first-ever Brainstorm: GREEN Conference.”

By all means, storm on busters. Brainstorm ‘til your brains Explode. Kindly brainstorm yourselves out of existence ‘cause you can’t have a sustainable world run by corporations no matter what color they are painted in, green, blue or any shade of fecal brown.

Question:

IF the catastrophic changes that are engulfing us could somehow be mitigated, slowed down or stopped [sic] … if a new world could be created [sic] as if by an act of divine intervention [sic] offering a sizable number of communities the luxury of a future … should those surviving communities then allow the same old global deep f*cking greencovered corporations and their NGOs reiterate the same old algorithms that are about to checkmate humanity?

Among the “brainstormers” are CEOs and other top-level representatives from world’s biggest earth polluters and their usual line up of NGOs and green front groups that provide the desperately-needed camouflage. Believe it or not, the list includes:

• Monsanto Company (WTF)
• Caterpillar, Inc. (Yes the ones with earth f*cking machines, and bulldozers in the occupied territories.)
• The Dow Chemical Company (Agent Orange!)
• McDonald’s Corporation
• General Motors Corporation
• JP Morgan
• The Coca-Cola Co.
• The Procter & Gamble Company
• Duke Energy Corporation
• Black & Veatch Holding Co.
• Google.org
• Hewlett-Packard Co.
• Edison International
• PG&E Corporation
• IBM
• Lehman Brothers
• Dell Inc. (Yes, him, too!)
• Lufthansa German Airlines
• Xerox Corporation
• Siemens Corporate Research, Inc.
• Azamara Cruises and Celebrity Cruises
• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
• Bank of America Corporation
• JPMorgan Chase
• GE Energy
• Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
• Marriott International, Inc.

And many others including their blue-thinking brownfaced NGO green fronts …

Related Links:

• Earth Hour (and earth day) Deception
• What Killed Earth Day? Too Much Fuss And No Bother

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