American Lung Association Faults Environmental Protection Agency for Ignoring Deadly Particle Pollution in Five U.S. Cities in List Released Today

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Lung Association faults the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for leaving five U.S. cities off its list of those required to take immediate action to reduce particle pollution in the air. This deadly omission puts public health in the following metropolitan areas at considerable risk: Houston, Texas; Augusta, Georgia; Columbus, Georgia; Greenville, South Carolina; and Fairmont, West Virginia. In addition, EPA left many individual counties off the list despite the impact of emissions from those counties on pollution in metropolitan areas.
Particle pollution is typically a mixture of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. It can trigger heart attacks and strokes, and cause irregular heartbeats, lung cancer and premature births. Breathing particle pollution year-round can shorten life by one to three years. The five cities omitted from the EPA's list all showed unhealthy year-round levels of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5. In its list released today, the EPA only identified counties and metropolitan areas that experience unhealthy spikes in particulate matter pollution over the course of a 24-hour period.
The Clean Air Act requires that the EPA officially notify all localities with documented unhealthy levels of particulate air pollution so that leaders can begin to make necessary changes.
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Inexpensive Test Can Help Prevent Lung Cancer Caused By Radon

Common Food Additive Found To Increase Risk And Speed Spread Of Lung Cancer

ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2008) — New research in an animal model suggests that a diet high in inorganic phosphates, which are found in a variety of processed foods including meats, cheeses, beverages, and bakery products, might speed growth of lung cancer tumors and may even contribute to the development of those tumors in individuals predisposed to the disease.
The study also suggests that dietary regulation of inorganic phosphates may play an important role in lung cancer treatment. The research, using a mouse model, was conducted by Myung-Haing Cho, D.V.M., Ph.D., and his colleagues at Seoul National University, appears in the first issue for January of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
"Our study indicates that increased intake of inorganic phosphates strongly stimulates lung cancer development in mice, and suggests that dietary regulation of inorganic phosphates may be critical for lung cancer treatment as well as prevention," said Dr. Cho.
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