Short-term increases in PM levels -associated with acute health effects:
- increased use of medication (e.g. asthma inhalers),
- days off work and days with restricted activity,
- hospital admission for lung and heart diseases,
- risk of death from asthma, COPD, heart disease,
- Impacts identified at progressively lower PM concentrations.
- Probably no lower threshold limit for adverse effects.
Long term exposure to particulates –PM
- increased deaths from all causes, heart attack, chronic lung disease, stroke and lung cancer.
- Estimated reduction in average life expectancy of 3-4 months in Scotland (COMEAP 2010)
- Estimated (statistically) as equivalent to approx. “excess” deaths levels of anthropogenic PM 2.5 (assumes PM 2.5 is the sole cause of death –but it isn’t!)
- NB-interpret estimates of “excess deaths caused by AP” with caution –not actual deaths (cf. RTA deaths).
Additional effects of long term PM exposure -emerging evidence
- less strong but associations also identified with:
- adverse birth outcomes, low birth weight,
- childhood asthma,
- cognitive dysfunction –dementia,
- chronic metabolic disease eg diabetes
