Photo credit: Pixabay
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
A recent article in the Journal of the American Heart Association reported that the number of people sickened or killed by air pollution is increasing worldwide. Researchers used the Global Burden of Disease study from 2019 to examine the proportion of cardiovascular diseases attributed to particulate matter air pollution from 1990 to 2019. They found that the number of people affected by particulate matter worldwide had increased 31%. There were significant differences between men and women, and between different regions of the world. They concluded that these results have clinical and policy implications for global health planning for funding, resource allocation and dealing with health inequities.
Why am I writing about particulate matter air pollution in the Quiet Coalition’s blog? Because a lot of particulate matter air pollution comes from internal combustion engines powering transportation by vehicles, railroads and aircraft. Transportation noise, which has its own adverse health effects, is estimated to adversely affect the health of 100 million Americans.
Little to nothing has been done about noise pollution in the United States since the EPA’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control was defunded during the Reagan years, but the EPA continues to enforce air pollution standards, at least to a limited extent. Additionally, state and local governments have started passing laws and regulations banning the use of small off-road gasoline engines, like those used to power leaf blowers, because of the pollutants emitted from those engines. Every year, more Americans are buying electric vehicles, which are generally quieter than those with gasoline or diesel engines.
These laws and regulations will not only make the air cleaner, protecting Americans’ cardiovascular health, but should help make it quieter. Quieter, cleaner air will help make the world a better, healthier place for all.
