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Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Dementia Risk

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Monday, November 25, 2024

By Ernie Mundell HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Nov. 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- People in Southern California with relatively high exposures to wildfire smoke over a decade also had significantly higher risks for dementia, a new study warns.In fact, the fine-particle pollution created by these fires seems more closely tied to brain trouble than similar pollutants from factories and car exhaust, the researchers noted.Over the long-term, every one-microgram-per-square-meter increase of wildfire-generated air pollution "was associated with an 18% increase in the odds of dementia diagnosis," concluded a team led by Joan Casey. She's an associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.The new study looked at health data on more than 1.2 million members of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system. Participants were tracked for the years 2008 through 2019.Casey's team correlated changes in each member's neurological health against exposures to local wildfires. These blazes have been on the rise in southern California in recent years due to climate change.Investigators looked specifically at an airborne pollutant called PM 2.5. It's a product of combustion that's so tiny it can permeate deep into the lungs, and is even thought able to cross the protective brain-blood barrier.Studies on PM 2.5 generated by industry or motor vehicles have long shown it to be "associated with incident dementia," the researchers noted.Would PM 2.5 generated by wildfires be any different?According to the study results, it could be much more harmful to the brain than other forms of PM 2.5.While long-term high exposure to wildfire particulate matter upped the odds of dementia by 18%, similar exposures to PM 2.5 generated by other source upped people's risk by just 1%, the researchers calculated.Of the more than 1.2 million Californians covered by the study, certain groups seemed to be at particular risk.People who were younger than 75 when they entered the study appeared more prone to smoke-linked brain harm compared to older people, and folks living in poorer areas also faced higher risk for dementia linked to wildfire smoke.Why would poverty make a difference?As the researchers explained, people are advised to stay indoors whenever wildfire smoke clouds the air, but poorer families may have "lower-quality housing [that] may increase smoke infiltration." They may also be unable to afford pricey air-filtering devices, Casey's team said.Poverty and race are often interconnected, so the finding that the link between wildfire smoke and dementia was stronger among Black and Hispanic participants, compared to whites, was not surprising, the study authors added.Because of hotter, drier conditions brought on by climate change, "wildfires, once rare and geographicaly confined, now regularly impact populations across the US," Casey's team noted.Helping to prevent these fires and beter shield residents from smoke when they do occur, "may reduce dementia diagnoses" in years to come, they believe.The study was published Nov. 25 in the journal JAMA Neurology.SOURCE: JAMA Neurology, Nov. 25, 2024Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

By Ernie Mundell HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Nov. 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- People in Southern California with relatively high exposures to...

By Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- People in Southern California with relatively high exposures to wildfire smoke over a decade also had significantly higher risks for dementia, a new study warns.

In fact, the fine-particle pollution created by these fires seems more closely tied to brain trouble than similar pollutants from factories and car exhaust, the researchers noted.

Over the long-term, every one-microgram-per-square-meter increase of wildfire-generated air pollution "was associated with an 18% increase in the odds of dementia diagnosis," concluded a team led by Joan Casey. She's an associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The new study looked at health data on more than 1.2 million members of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system. Participants were tracked for the years 2008 through 2019.

Casey's team correlated changes in each member's neurological health against exposures to local wildfires. These blazes have been on the rise in southern California in recent years due to climate change.

Investigators looked specifically at an airborne pollutant called PM 2.5. It's a product of combustion that's so tiny it can permeate deep into the lungs, and is even thought able to cross the protective brain-blood barrier.

Studies on PM 2.5 generated by industry or motor vehicles have long shown it to be "associated with incident dementia," the researchers noted.

Would PM 2.5 generated by wildfires be any different?

According to the study results, it could be much more harmful to the brain than other forms of PM 2.5.

While long-term high exposure to wildfire particulate matter upped the odds of dementia by 18%, similar exposures to PM 2.5 generated by other source upped people's risk by just 1%, the researchers calculated.

Of the more than 1.2 million Californians covered by the study, certain groups seemed to be at particular risk.

People who were younger than 75 when they entered the study appeared more prone to smoke-linked brain harm compared to older people, and folks living in poorer areas also faced higher risk for dementia linked to wildfire smoke.

Why would poverty make a difference?

As the researchers explained, people are advised to stay indoors whenever wildfire smoke clouds the air, but poorer families may have "lower-quality housing [that] may increase smoke infiltration." They may also be unable to afford pricey air-filtering devices, Casey's team said.

Poverty and race are often interconnected, so the finding that the link between wildfire smoke and dementia was stronger among Black and Hispanic participants, compared to whites, was not surprising, the study authors added.

Because of hotter, drier conditions brought on by climate change, "wildfires, once rare and geographicaly confined, now regularly impact populations across the US," Casey's team noted.

Helping to prevent these fires and beter shield residents from smoke when they do occur, "may reduce dementia diagnoses" in years to come, they believe.

The study was published Nov. 25 in the journal JAMA Neurology.

SOURCE: JAMA Neurology, Nov. 25, 2024

Read the full story here.

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Only seven countries worldwide meet WHO dirty air guidelines, study shows

Annual survey by IQAir based on toxic PM2.5 particles reveals some progress in pollution levels in India and ChinaNearly every country on Earth has dirtier air than doctors recommend breathing, a report has found.Only seven countries met the World Health Organization’s guidelines for tiny toxic particles known as PM2.5 last year, according to analysis from the Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. Continue reading...

Nearly every country on Earth has dirtier air than doctors recommend breathing, a report has found.Only seven countries met the World Health Organization’s guidelines for tiny toxic particles known as PM2.5 last year, according to analysis from the Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.Australia, New Zealand and Estonia were among the handful of countries with a yearly average of no more than 5µg of PM2.5 per cubic metre, along with Greenland and some small island states.The most polluted countries were Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and India. PM2.5 levels in all five countries were at least 10 times higher than guideline limits in 2024, the report found, stretching as much as 18 times higher than recommended levels in Chad.Doctors say there are no safe levels of PM2.5, which is small enough to slip into the bloodstream and damage organs throughout the body, but have estimated millions of lives could be saved each year by following their guidelines. Dirty air is the second-biggest risk factor for dying after high blood pressure.“Air pollution doesn’t kill us immediately – it takes maybe two to three decades before we see the impacts on health, unless it’s very extreme,” said Frank Hammes, CEO of IQAir. “[Avoiding it] is one of those preventative things people don’t think about till too late in their lives.”The annual report, which is in its seventh year, highlighted some areas of progress. It found the share of cities meeting the PM2.5 standards rose from 9% in 2023 to 17% in 2024.Air pollution in India, which is home to six of the 10 dirtiest cities in the world, fell by 7% between 2023 and 2024. China’s air quality also improved, part of a long-running trend that saw the country’s extreme PM2.5 pollution fall by almost half between 2013 and 2020.The air quality in Beijing is now almost the same as in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latter was the most polluted city in Europe for the second year running, the report found.Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Copenhagen, who was not involved in the report, said the results highlighted some chilling facts about air pollution.“Huge disparities are seen even within one of the cleanest continents,” she said. “Citizens of eastern European and non-EU Balkan countries breathe the most polluted air in Europe, and there is a 20-fold difference in PM2.5 levels between the most and least polluted cities.”skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionGovernments could clean their air with policies such as funding renewable energy projects and public transport; building infrastructure to encourage walking and cycling; and banning people from burning farm waste.To create the ranking, the researchers averaged real-time data on air pollution, measured at ground level, over the course of the calendar year. About one-third of the units were run by governments and two-thirds by non-profits, schools and universities, and private citizens with sensors.Air quality monitoring is worse in parts of Africa and west Asia, where several countries were excluded from the analysis. Poor countries tend to have dirtier air than rich ones but often lack measuring stations to inform their citizens or spur policy changes.Roel Vermeulen, an environmental epidemiologist at Utrecht University, who was not involved in the report, said biases were most likely in data-poor areas with few regulated monitoring stations – particularly as satellite measurements were not used for the analysis – but that the values presented for Europe were in line with previous research.“Virtually everyone globally is breathing bad air,” he said. “What brings it home is that there are such large disparities in the levels of exposure.”

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Could Your Cup of Tea Help Remove Lead From Drinking Water?

By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, March 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Your daily cup of tea might do more than help you relax -- it could also...

FRIDAY, March 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Your daily cup of tea might do more than help you relax -- it could also help remove harmful heavy metals from your drinking water, new research suggests.A Northwestern University study found that tea leaves can naturally pull lead and other dangerous metals out of water as tea steeps.About 5 billion cups of tea are consumed each day worldwide, according to one estimate.“You can see the implications,” said Vinayak Dravid, a materials scientist at Northwestern and an author of the study. “How often do we touch billions of people?”Heavy metal contamination -- especially lead -- is a growing concern, especially in areas with aging pipes.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that about 9 million U.S. homes get their water through pipes that contain lead, The New York Times reported. Those pipes can allow the toxic metal to leach into drinking water.Even small amounts of lead exposure can be dangerous, especially for children, potentially leading to developmental delays and behavioral problems.In the study, David and his team tested a variety of teas -- including black, white, oolong, green, rooibos, herbal, loose leaf and plain Lipton -- to see how well they absorbed lead from water during various steeping times.The researchers found that black tea was the most effective at pulling lead from water.“Green tea and black tea had fairly equivalent amounts of metal absorbed,” co-author Benjamin Shindel told The Times. He worked on the study as a doctoral candidate at Northwestern.This is because compounds called catechins act like “little Velcro” hooks to which lead molecules latch, Michelle Francl, a chemist at Bryn Mawr College, explained.Francl added that tea leaves also have a rough surface with "ridges and valleys," which provides more space for metals to attach to them.White tea, which is more gently processed and has smoother leaves, absorbed far less lead.Herbal teas like chamomile, which aren’t made from actual tea leaves, were also less effective.Steeping black tea for five minutes removed about 15% of the lead from the water. And while any reduction is helpful, the EPA warns that no amount of lead exposure is safe.“With lead and other contaminants, any decrease is meaningful to some extent, especially if you have a lack of resources or infrastructure that would already remediate some of these problem materials,” said Caroline Harms, who worked on the study as an undergraduate student of Dravid's at Northwestern.While longer steeping times did pull out more lead, they also made the tea more bitter.“It’s not really drinkable after 10 minutes of steeping tea, and no amount of salt is going to help that,” Francl told The Times.Some samples steeped for 24 hours removed the most metals, but they would be impossible to drink.Researchers estimated that in countries where tea drinking is common, people could be ingesting about 3% less lead from their water compared to their counterparts in countries that don’t drink tea.“Given that clean water is such a global issue,” Francl concluded, “if there was a way to take this proof of concept and tweak it to produce potable water at the end, that would be pretty good.”SOURCE: The New York Times, Feb. 28, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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SMART researchers pioneer nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants

The innovation enables nondestructive iron tracking within plant tissues, helping to optimize plant nutrient management, reduce fertilizer waste, and improve crop health.

Researchers from the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) interdisciplinary research group of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and MIT, have developed a groundbreaking near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent nanosensor capable of simultaneously detecting and differentiating between iron forms — Fe(II) and Fe(III) — in living plants. Iron is crucial for plant health, supporting photosynthesis, respiration, and enzyme function. It primarily exists in two forms: Fe(II), which is readily available for plants to absorb and use, and Fe(III), which must first be converted into Fe(II) before plants can utilize it effectively. Traditional methods only measure total iron, missing the distinction between these forms — a key factor in plant nutrition. Distinguishing between Fe(II) and Fe(III) provides insights into iron uptake efficiency, helps diagnose deficiencies or toxicities, and enables precise fertilization strategies in agriculture, reducing waste and environmental impact while improving crop productivity.The first-of-its-kind nanosensor developed by SMART researchers enables real-time, nondestructive monitoring of iron uptake, transport, and changes between its different forms — providing precise and detailed observations of iron dynamics. Its high spatial resolution allows precise localization of iron in plant tissues or subcellular compartments, enabling the measurement of even minute changes in iron levels within plants — changes that can inform how a plant handles stress and uses nutrients. Traditional detection methods are destructive, or limited to a single form of iron. This new technology enables the diagnosis of deficiencies and optimization of fertilization strategies. By identifying insufficient or excessive iron intake, adjustments can be made to enhance plant health, reduce waste, and support more sustainable agriculture. While the nanosensor was tested on spinach and bok choy, it is species-agnostic, allowing it to be applied across a diverse range of plant species without genetic modification. This capability enhances our understanding of iron dynamics in various ecological settings, providing comprehensive insights into plant health and nutrient management. As a result, it serves as a valuable tool for both fundamental plant research and agricultural applications, supporting precision nutrient management, reducing fertilizer waste, and improving crop health.“Iron is essential for plant growth and development, but monitoring its levels in plants has been a challenge. This breakthrough sensor is the first of its kind to detect both Fe(II) and Fe(III) in living plants with real-time, high-resolution imaging. With this technology, we can ensure plants receive the right amount of iron, improving crop health and agricultural sustainability,” says Duc Thinh Khong, DiSTAP research scientist and co-lead author of the paper.“In enabling non-destructive real-time tracking of iron speciation in plants, this sensor opens new avenues for understanding plant iron metabolism and the implications of different iron variations for plants. Such knowledge will help guide the development of tailored management approaches to improve crop yield and more cost-effective soil fertilization strategies,” says Grace Tan, TLL research scientist and co-lead author of the paper.The research, recently published in Nano Letters and titled, “Nanosensor for Fe(II) and Fe(III) Allowing Spatiotemporal Sensing in Planta,” builds upon SMART DiSTAP’s established expertise in plant nanobionics, leveraging the Corona Phase Molecular Recognition (CoPhMoRe) platform pioneered by the Strano Lab at SMART DiSTAP and MIT. 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Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, and co-corresponding author of the paper.Beyond agriculture, this nanosensor holds promise for environmental monitoring, food safety, and health sciences, particularly in studying iron metabolism, iron deficiency, and iron-related diseases in humans and animals. Future research will focus on leveraging this nanosensor to advance fundamental plant studies on iron homeostasis, nutrient signaling, and redox dynamics. Efforts are also underway to integrate the nanosensor into automated nutrient management systems for hydroponic and soil-based farming and expand its functionality to detect other essential micronutrients. These advancements aim to enhance sustainability, precision, and efficiency in agriculture.The research is carried out by SMART, and supported by the National Research Foundation under its Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise program.

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Men With Stronger Sperm May Live Longer, Study Finds

By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, March 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Men with strong, fast-swimming sperm may not only have better...

WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Men with strong, fast-swimming sperm may not only have better fertility but also longer lives, a new study suggests.Researchers tracked more than 78,000 men over 50 years and found that those with higher sperm motility -- the ability of sperm to swim -- lived nearly three years longer than men with poor sperm movement.“In absolute terms, men with a total motile count of more than 120 million (per milliliter of semen) lived 2.7 years longer than men with a total motile count of between 0 and 5 million,” lead author Lærke Priskorn, a doctoral candidate at Copenhagen University Hospital -- Rigshospitalet in Denmark, said in a statement.That translates to a life expectancy of 80.3 years for men with high sperm motility compared to 77.6 years for men with very low motility, according to findings published March 4 in the journal Human Reproduction.Sperm motility is the ability of sperm to move through the female reproductive tract to reach and fertilize an egg.The World Health Organization (WHO) considers sperm motility normal if at least 42% of sperm in a sample can swim effectively.A motility count lower than 5 million per milliliter of semen is linked to male infertility, the researchers said.Dr. Michael Eisenberg, professor of urology and director of male reproductive medicine and surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, reviewed the findings.“The fact that there is an association between semen quality and longevity is an important finding,” he told CNN via email, adding that prior studies have suggested this link between reproductive health and overall health.Semen quality could also help identify future health problems, especially at younger ages, according to John Aitken, a reproductive health expert and professor emeritus at the University of Newcastle in Australia, who wrote an an editorial published with the study.“In men, it appears to be their semen profile that is providing the most significant information concerning their future health and wellbeing,” he wrote.Experts agree that one possible link between sperm quality and life expectancy could be oxidative stress.Oxidative stress happens when unstable molecules called free radicals build up in the body and cause damage to cells and DNA -- including sperm.“Any factor (genetic, immunological, metabolic, environmental or lifestyle) that enhances overall levels of oxidative stress, could reasonably be expected to drive changes in the semen profile and subsequent patterns of mortality,” Aitken wrote.Oxidative stress can be triggered by smoking, heavy alcohol use, pesticides, industrial chemicals and even air pollution, according to the National Cancer Institute.The body can fight back with antioxidants, found in foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, according to the Cleveland Clinic.While antioxidant supplements haven’t been proven to help with oxidative stress, a diet rich in whole foods -- citrus fruit, spinach, peppers, sunflower seeds, almonds, salmon, tuna, carrots, mangos and kale, to name a few -- offers a natural way to support sperm health and overall wellness.SOURCES: CNN, March 4, 2025; Human Reproduction, March 4, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Opinion: We should empower youth to fight for environmental justice in their own neighborhoods

I’m a recent high school graduate who lived and breathed for most of my life in Braddock, Pennsylvania, about nine miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Braddock is home to the Edgar Thomson Steel Mill, owned by U.S. Steel, which Nippon Steel recently tried to purchase before the deal was blocked.During the last year of my high school career, I opened my eyes to the realities of environmental injustice in my neighborhood. It also became clear to me that we need more opportunities for young people like me to learn how to navigate advocacy.My journey began in summer 2023 when I attended the Public Health Science Academy at the University of Pittsburgh. There I learned that PM2.5 — air pollution particles that have a diameter of 2.5 microns or smaller — is dangerous because these tiny particles penetrate lung tissue, enter the bloodstream, and cause many health issues including respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and mental health problems.My neighborhood in Braddock has higher levels of PM2.5 than 95% of other places in the U.S., a higher proportion of minority residents than 84% of the country, and a higher rate of poverty than 94% of the country, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). PM2.5 increases the risk for health conditions associated with the Pittsburgh area’s health disparities, including cardiovascular disease. For example, in Pittsburgh, more Black residents die of Cardiovascular Disease than in 98% of similar cities. I was shocked to learn about the clear link between particle pollution and cardiovascular disease. If we know so much, then why aren’t we doing more to protect people?My astonishment continued when I learned that some of the Pittsburgh region’s dramatic health disparities for Black mothers and their babies can be linked to PM2.5 exposure, too. Exposure to PM2.5 is linked to negative health impacts for expectant parents and babies. Pittsburgh's Black maternal mortality rate is higher than Black maternal mortality rates in 97 percent of similar cities. Pittsburgh babies born to Black mothers are three times more likely to be under 3.3 lbs than babies born to mothers of other races. This really hit close to home for me, since I was born at just 26 weeks old weighing 1 pound 11 ounces.Photos and voices from Braddock, PennsylvaniaPhotos and voices from Braddock, PennsylvaniaPhotos and voices from Braddock, PennsylvaniaPhotos and voices from Braddock, PennsylvaniaPhotos and voices from Braddock, PennsylvaniaPhotos and voices from Braddock, PennsylvaniaOur mayor Delia Lennon-Winstead has said, “U.S. Steel is Braddock, and Braddock is U.S. Steel.” Indeed, where I live the steel mill is inescapable. My neighbors and I can see, hear, and smell the pollution from our complex 0.1 miles away from the mill.In some ways, the company tries to be a good neighbor. Last Christmas, for example, U.S. Steel bought toys for kids from low-income households in the neighborhood. But the plant is also the biggest reason my neighborhood sees the highest levels of PM2.5 pollution in the country, and the plant regularly violates federal clean air laws. Some of us in Braddock feel that buying kids gifts doesn’t make up for the terrible air quality created by the plant or the damage it does to our health, and that U.S. Steel can do better for our predominantly Black community.I learned that people in Braddock have been asking U.S. Steel and regulators to curb PM2.5 pollution in Braddock for years without much progress. But I also found out something that gave me a glimmer of hope: There’s plenty of evidence that portable air cleaners can help protect people from the PM2.5 that invades their homes, which is where most harmful exposure to air pollutants happens.I became determined to make free air cleaners accessible to my neighbors.I found a local organization, Reducing Outdoor Contaminants in Indoor Spaces (ROCIS), which helped me answer the call. So far, nine of my neighbors’ homes have each received 3 air cleaners. My neighbors have reported that they’re breathing more easily and the air in their homes smells fresher and feels cleaner.Working to protect my neighbors from U.S. Steel’s air pollution and my conversations with local environmental justice leaders in Pittsburgh deepened my convictions that breathing clean air is a human right, and that I want better for my community.We shouldn’t stop advocating for cleaner outdoor air in places like Braddock. But we should also take steps to protect people’s indoor air in the meantime, and providing access to free air cleaners in environmental justice neighborhoods like Braddock is part of the solution. And young people need better opportunities to engage in environmental justice advocacy for their neighbors.

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Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Dementia Risk

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Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Dementia Risk

Related News

Only seven countries worldwide meet WHO dirty air guidelines, study shows

Could Your Cup of Tea Help Remove Lead From Drinking Water?

SMART researchers pioneer nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants

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Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future