Exposure to environmental air pollutants exacerbates respiratory illness; however, attempts to estimate effects from multiple point sources have rarely been undertaken.

A new study published in Environmental Research examined the risk of incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in association with emissions of multiple air pollutants from point pollution sources in Australia.

In this study, prospective cohort data was analyzed from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Womens Health. Here, 35755women from three age-cohorts were followed for up to 21 years, for incident COPD and asthma. Exposures were measured from the National Pollutant Inventory and included carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). Inverse-distance weighted emissions in kilograms that women experienced over time, were identified from point sources within 10 km of their residences. The risk of self-reported doctor-diagnosed COPD and asthma in association with pollutant exposures and covariates were examined.

The results recorded11.5% cases were of new COPD and 9.4% were new asthma cases. It was noted that participants were exposed to an average of 47-59 sites with air pollution emissions within 10 km of their residences. Fossil fuel electricity generation and mining were largest contributors to air pollution,yet hundreds of other types of emissions were also recorded. Additionally, all five air pollutants modeled individually were significantly associated with the risk of COPD. When modeled jointly, only sulfur dioxide (SO2) remained significantly associated with COPD, although the five pollutants were highly correlated. On the other hand, none of the pollutants were significantly associated with adult onset asthma. Furthermore, cohort-specific analyses indicated that COPD risk was significantly associated with SO2 exposure for younger, middle-age and older cohorts.

In inference, it was stated that multiple exposure sources and pollutants contributed to COPD risk, including electricity generation and mining but extending to many industrial processes. The findings underscored the importance of strategies and technological improvements to reduce harmful air pollution emissions across the industrial landscape.