|
一项最新研究显示，燃烧煤炭相关空气污染颗粒对健康的危害远较其他来源的颗粒严重。 来自纽约大学医学中心的研究者们分析了1982到2004年间来自美国100个城市45万人口的数据，发现暴露在化石燃料燃烧所排放的微小颗粒中会增加心脏疾病风险。化石燃料包括煤炭、石油和天然气。 研究表明，燃烧煤炭释放的污染颗粒直径大约几微米（被称为PM2.5）。同等释放量下所造成的心脏疾病死亡风险，比其它同等大小空气污染颗粒高5倍。 该研究发表在12月2号的在线《环境与健康展望》杂志（Environmental Health Perspectives）。同一时间，世界各国领导人聚集在巴黎参加联合国气候变化大会，商讨减少温室气体排放的方法。 美国环境保护署表示，温室气体会滞留热量使地球变暖。美国最大的温室气体排放来源为燃烧化石燃料发电、供暖和驱动交通工具。 据世界卫生组织的研究，全球每年约有300万人因空气污染死亡，而燃烧煤炭是主要原因。研究者称，我们必须降低污染物的排放以减少死于空气污染的人数。 本研究的主要研究者，人口健康和环境医学专家George Thurston说，过去的研究认为无论什么来源，所有的PM2.5颗粒有同样的毒性。但我们的研究表明，在美国，排放等量的污染颗粒，燃烧煤炭导致心脏疾病的死亡率，是其他PM2.5颗粒的五倍。 研究还表明，由风刮起的土壤中的PM2.5、燃烧木材和其他生物能源产生的PM2.5，对于心脏疾病的死亡率没有很大影响。 Air pollution particles from the burning of coal are far more dangerous to your health than those from other sources, a new study indicates. Researchers analyzed data gathered from 450,000 people in 100 U.S. cities between 1982 and 2004. The team from NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York City, found that exposure to tiny particles in fossil fuel emissions are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Fossil fuels include coal, crude oil and natural gas. The investigators found that -- pound for pound -- particles from coal burning contribute about five times more to the risk of death from heart disease than other air pollution particles of the same size -- less than one ten-thousandth of an inch in diameter (known as PM 2.5). The findings were published online Dec. 2 in the journalEnvironmental Health Perspectives, just as world leaders gather in Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Delegates will consider numerous ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transportation. Air pollution kills about 3 million people worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. Coal emissions are a major factor in this public health crisis, the study authors said. These emissions must be reduced to lower the number of deaths caused by air pollution, the researchers said. 'Past studies of this kind have essentially assumed that all PM 2.5 particles have the same toxicity, irrespective of their source,' lead investigator George Thurston, a professor of population health and environmental medicine, said in a Langone news release. 'Our results indicate that, pound for pound, coal-burning particles contribute roughly five times as much to heart disease mortality risk as the average air pollution PM 2.5 particle in the United States,' he added. The researchers also found that PM 2.5 particles from wind-blown soil and the burning of wood and other biomass were insignificant in terms of the risk of death from heart disease. |
|
|
