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Editor, News-Register:
As a cardiothoracic surgeon I see how air pollution affects my patients every day. The EPA is currently taking comments on its proposal to update its standards for particle pollution in more than 10 years. Also known as soot, PM2.5 refers to a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles that are in the air we breathe and comes from many sources. Here in Wheeling, residents are at risk from power plants, factories, diesel engines and downwind pollution from our neighbors in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Children and adolescents are more susceptible to the of air pollution than adults. Lungs are mature by the time you are about 20-25 years old. The greatest period of postnatal development is between birth and approximately 6 years of age, with the formation of more than 80% of new alveoli. Air pollution can alter the development of both immune function and their lung mechanics due to smaller airways, immature detoxification and metabolic systems.
The elderly population has also been shown to be more susceptible to inflammation and respiratory complications and their particle clearance may be less efficient or impaired by other dysfunctions. In the general population exposure can cause worsened asthma and COPD; cause heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, and congestive heart failure; as well as lung cancer.
This is why I am urging my fellow Wheeling residents to join me to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particle pollution. We must not underestimate the importance of clean air. To learn more, you can read and sign the petition at Lung.org/stronger-standards.
Dr. Robert Herron
American Lung Association Volunteer Medical Spokesperson; WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Medical Director, Lung Cancer Screening Program