It’s time to consider how reducing emissions for the benefit of the climate could bring added health benefits to our population, argues Dr Dennis Wesselbaum.
The report by He Pou a Rangi, the Climate Change Commission, has received much positive and negative attention since its publication.
It suggests making dramatic changes to transport, energy, buildings, agriculture and many other sectors.
These changes will not only affect the economy and emissions, but will also affect air pollution in Aotearoa New Zealand because reducing emissions by, for example switching to electrical vehicles, will also reduce the emissions of air pollutants generated as a side-product of the combustion process.
There is potential for climate change policies to support air pollution interventions that have added benefits.
Air pollution is a mixture of gases, particles, and molecules, including ground-level ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur oxides. Importantly, studies have shown that indoor air quality can be worse than outdoor air quality and, generally, is affected by outdoor air quality.
Environmental policy is still a contentious issue and new research shows the case for reducing air pollutant emissions is becoming stronger.
Air pollution has been identified as a major environmental health problem and a threat to public health by the World Health Organisation. It is a problem affecting billions of people around the world every year.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documented that air quality in the United States has been decreasing since 2013, with 15 percent more days per year with unhealthy air.
Studies found that breathing the air in Beijing is similar to smoking around 40 cigarettes a day. Parts of Aotearoa New Zealand have even been affected by air pollution generated by wildfires in Australia.
While most people in rich, highly-developed countries are not subject to high levels of pollution, they are still exposed to it at low levels.
Further, there is an ongoing discussion about the appropriate threshold levels of pollutants, which generates uncertainty around the levels of pollutants that can be considered to be “safe”.
Pollutants are produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, industrial and agricultural processes, urbanisation, or chemicals used in everyday life.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, according to the Ministry for the Environment, the main human sources of pollution are burning wood and coal to heat a home.
A large body of toxicological and clinical research shows that pollution, even after only a short-term exposure, has effects on morbidity and health.
These include, but are not limited to, premature deaths, cancer, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.
While these effects have been mainly shown for adults, the effects of air pollutants are likely to be particularly strong for the developing foetus and young children.
At these stages of development, the immune and other bodily systems are especially vulnerable to pollutants.
Aside from health effects, a growing body of literature, mainly in the field of economics, studies the effects of pollution on behavioural factors including crime, house prices, labour supply, and cognitive performance.
More research is needed on this, as well as the transmission channels of pollutants on behaviour.
Why would we expect air pollution to affect behaviour in the first place? There are various channels including the effects of pollutants on emotions, where they can cause anxiety and depression.
Moreover, pollutants are neurotoxic, causing, for example, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and neurovascular unit dysfunction.
Since there is evidence that air pollution affects health, mortality, and, more recently, our behaviour, it strongly furthers the case for more detailed measurement of air pollutants, a clear and timely communication of peaks in pollutants, and, generally, for stricter regulation.
Given that most air pollutants are odourless and colourless, the findings in the literature on the health and behavioural effects of pollutants also need to be clearly communicated to the general public so people can practice avoidance behaviour, for example by relocating to areas with lower pollution levels or improving indoor air quality.
The findings in the literature on the effects of pollutants on health and behaviour also motivate further research into technological innovations aimed at reducing emissions, including hybrids and EVs, air filters or the upgrading of building standards for houses and industrial plants.
The research efforts across disciplines have already increased regulatory efforts in many countries.
Nevertheless, environmental policy is still a contentious issue. For example, there is evidence that China produces Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) – often called the ozone killer – which was supposed to be phased out by 2010.
Clearly, there is still much left to do to improve our air and health, which requires technological improvements and strong, forward-looking policy decisions informed by research.
