Interview with prof. Tadeusz Zielonka, internist and pulmonologist from the Medical University of Warsaw.
They say we are what we eat. Or what we breathe?
Our health is like our water, food and air. We should be equally concerned about the quality of the food and fluids we consume and the quality of the air we breathe. Each of us can reach for clean water or a colorful carbonated drink or more or less processed products. It is a matter of individual choice.
What about air?
We don’t have much choice here. We can only change our whereabouts, which is not easy. The problem of air pollution exists in every country. However, there is something that distinguishes us: the vast majority of Poles are exposed to exceeding pollution standards, while in other countries it only applies to certain areas.
What can we do then?
Take actions that will gradually improve the situation. Krakow is synonymous with a dirty city, while the amount of average pollution in this city is falling, because systematic beneficial activities bring results. In Wrocław, on the other hand, these data are worse year by year due to the lack of such activities.
Also read: Air pollution is a health hazard
What does success depend on?
From coordinating all activities, each of us has something to do here. From introducing pro-ecological knowledge and behavior in kindergartens and schools, to pro-ecological activities in industry, business and media, to decisions of decision-makers at the local and national level. The medical elite also play an important role, as they should constantly inform about the health hazards of breathing polluted air. For years no one talked about it until it came to the point that Poles woke up in the most polluted country in Europe. In order to remedy this situation, the Coalition of Doctors and Scientists for Clean Air is being established.
What exactly is affected by air pollution?
For the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, lungs, heart, endocrine and nervous systems. They also affect the fertility of men and women: they reduce the quality of sperm and disrupt the menstrual cycle, which makes it difficult to get pregnant.
Who is most at risk from these pollutants?
The first group is children. Harmful substances in the air cause low birth weight and prematurity, which worsens their health not only in childhood, but also in adulthood. Children in developmental age who inhale the most suspended particulates deposited at the ground surface and substances emitted from car exhaust pipes, which are often at their height. The third category is the elderly or the sick. High levels of pollution, which is troublesome for young, healthy people, can be fatal for the elderly. Cardiovascular disorders – heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolism – cause the greatest number of deaths.
Also read: How does smog kill? The problem is more serious than we think
How many people die from air pollution?
The WHO figures are intimidating: 7 million people die from it every year. Half of them die due to air pollution, and the other – due to pollution inside the houses (open fireplaces).
In Europe, we have 430 thousand. deaths annually, in Poland – 48 thousand. This means that we erase a medium-sized city from the map every year. In practice, it looks like that at the end of the heating season and the exposure to suspended dust, we open the weekend grilling time, which is most popular among Poles, and we inhale together with the smoke, e.g. carcinogenic aromatic hydrocarbons, also especially dangerous for children (smoke from the grill is often at their height).
Some people, including doctors, say that this contamination is overkill after all …
This is due to a lack of knowledge. In the 50s, doctors recommended smoking cigarettes and they smoked because they did not believe in their harmfulness. Today they already believe, even if they smoke.
What is the knowledge of doctors today about the harmfulness of air pollution?
The medical community has a solid lesson to do. In this respect, Poland differs from European standards. However, this is the price of the fact that we have the smallest number of doctors per capita. So they do not have the time and energy to educate themselves and their patients.
So let’s move on to education. To protect yourself from air pollution in winter, just close the window and turn on the air purifier, but what to do in the summer?
Regardless of the weather conditions, with a high concentration of pollutants, you also need to close the window and it is worth turning on the air purifier and ventilating the apartment when their level drops. It is a matter of the lesser evil.
Check out how to keep germs out of your home
So you need to follow the state of air pollution in your place of stay. Tight windows and good ventilation are also important. It depends on whether 30 or 70 percent will reach our apartment. pollution from outside.
Also read: “Time for clean air”. We still know too little about air pollution
What about running, walking?
Research shows that being active in one place can be beneficial and harm in another. In London, patients with asthma, COPD, hypertension and heart failure were examined. It turned out that walking or running in Hyde Park improved the spirometry results, and on the busy Oxford Street – it worsened (in Warsaw it is, for example, Lasek Bielański vs Marszałkowska). Similar results were found for heart patients – their blood pressure increased during activity in a busy street, and in the park – it decreased.
Does smog threaten us mainly in winter and not in summer?
Smog is strongly related to weather conditions, but not all air pollution comes from smog. Winter car smog and summer ozone smog are different. It is also not that all types of pollution affect health in the same way. In Krakow, most pollution comes from the municipal sector, in Warsaw – from the communication sector, and in Upper Silesia from industry, communication and the municipal sector. Therefore, you need to take action tailored to a specific place, there is no panacea for all types of pollution.
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Press interview prepared by the Journalists for Health Association for the 23.05.2019th edition of the Medicinaria seminar entitled Health consequences of air pollution. Medical Center of Postgraduate Education, XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX, Warsaw.