Posts Tagged ‘ Air Pollution ’

Does your Town Need a Disclaimer as a Defense?

January 16th, 2011. By Hunter West

Imagine, driving down a highway enroute to a major city and encountering the ‘Welcome’ sign that often heralds a municipality’s singular asset, or slogan. “Welcome to Anytown: the Friendly City,” or for that matter ‘You Are Entering the Sunshine State…” 

Well how about this… 

“Welcome to Anytown. Our Smog Can Kill You. Wear a Mask. Stay Indoors, Shut the Windows and Have a Nice Day.” 

Or, 

“Welcome to Anyville. You’ve Been Warned…” 

A study appeared last week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that warns against the possibility of adverse effects for healthy people living in, or within close proximity to air pollution. 

Specifically, the impact air pollution may have on heart arrhythmias that could lead to sudden death. 

The possibility that dirty air could prove a problem for people with heart conditions has been debated for some time. But this is something new, because now we are talking about healthy people, with relatively healthy hearts. 

The small study found that air pollution could interfere with the heart’s inherent capacity to reset its electrical properties in an orderly manner, according to the researchers involved. That can lead to arrhythmias—which can cause sudden death in certain individuals. 

Mind you, the study was small—just 25 participants. However, this is the first time that concern Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Air Pollution, Heart Arrhythmias
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A New Litigation Target: It’s in the Air…

May 13th, 2010. By Hunter West

It was revealed this month that yet another study—this one originating with researchers in Ottawa on the Chilean population—suggests that air pollution carries with it risk for stroke and thrombosis. 

We already know—and have for a long time—that bad air can make you sick. Employees have sued their employers for the bad air coursing through a building’s ventilation systems. Air travelers have sued airlines for the bad air found in some commercial jets. 

The latter is a real concern. If the air inside a commercial jet is making you sick, it’s not like you can just get off at the next stop. Short of getting them to drop the oxygen mask so you can get relief that way, there isn’t a lot you can do but suffer in silence—and sue the bastards when you land. 

Which is what some people have done. 

So you work in a sick building. Short of launching a formal complaint against your employer, you can always get outside and get some fresh air when you find the air in the workplace, overwhelming. 

(Workers sue anyway). 

But what happens when the air outside, is worse than the air inside? 

Research is suggesting that the air pollution out there can be hazardous to your health. Sure, we’ve all joked about it—and even sensed it—but now research is suggesting we’re not far off the mark. 

So you don’t like the air in, say, Detroit or in the valleys of California where the mountains trap the smog. Okay, so you move. 

But what if you can’t? What if your job ties you to that city, that area? What if you work outside, exposing your lungs to countless hours of polluted air? 

What happens if you suffer a stroke? 

Just watch…somebody, somewhere is going to sue the municipality for bad air. For a decades- Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Air Pollution
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