Pneumonia Risk In Elderly Rises With Increased Pollution, Study Says

Long-term exposure to air pollution dramatically increases the risk of pneumonia for older adults, according to a new study. Using air monitoring station data and air pollution models to gauge exposure in different geographical sections of Hamilton, Ontario, researchers found that adults over 65 exposed to nitrogen dioxide — which is closely associated with traffic pollution — and fine particulate matter were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia. Exposure to sulfur dioxide was not associated with increased risk of hospitalization, according to the report, which will be published in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. In addition to traffic pollution, researchers said an industrial steel plant in the northern section of the city increased exposure to pneumonia-associated pollutants. Mark Loeb, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton and the lead author of the study, suggested that the pollutants had weakened “innate immune defenses designed to protect the lungs from pathogens.”