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Breathing in air pollution from traffic fumes can raise the risk of potentially deadly blood clots, a US study says.

Exposure to small particulates - tiny chemicals caused by burning fossil fuels - is known to increase the chances of heart disease and stroke.

But the Harvard School of Public Health found it also affected development of deep vein thrombosis - blood clots in the legs - in a study of 2,000 people.

Researchers said the pollution made the blood more sticky and likely to clot.

The team looked at people living in Italy - nearly 900 of whom developed DVT.

Blood clots which form in the legs can travel to the lungs, where they can become lodged, triggering a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism.

The risk of DVT is known to be increased by long periods of immobility. In particular, passengers on long-haul flights have been shown to be vulnerable, but so are people who spend long periods of time sitting at their office desk without exercising, or walking around.

Researchers obtained pollution readings from the areas they lived and found those exposed to higher levels of small particulates in the year before diagnosis were more likely to develop blood clots.

The Archives of Internal Medicine report said for every 10 microgrammes per square metre increase in small particulates, the risk of developing a DVT went up by 70%.

Air quality guidelines generally state that small particulate concentrations should not exceed 50 microgrammes.

Risk Factor

Lead researcher Dr Andrea Baccarelli said: “Given the magnitude of the effects, our findings introduce a novel and common risk factor into the development of DVT.

“And, at the same time, they give further substance to the call for tighter standards and continued efforts aimed at reducing the impact of urban air pollutants on human health.”

Dr Beverley Hunt, medical director of the DVT charity Lifeblood, said: “We have known for some time that air pollution has been associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

“This study shows for the very first time that air pollution also increases the risk of clots in the veins and tells us why.

“It’s an exciting finding because air quality is something we can improve on through tightening air quality legislation.”

A number of power plants in that most progressive of continents take a leap backwards and reintroduces coal

In a slow-motion shock to environmentalists worldwide, European countries are turning back to coal to fire new power plants. At a time when India and China are ramping up production in their outdated coal-burning facilities, the last place anyone expected to see a coal resurgence was in the generally progressive nations of Western Europe. Most turning again to coal are hamstrung by record oil and natural gas prices; Italy and Germany have the added stress of having banned new nuclear plants as an alternative. Coal is relatively cheap and widely available, both features absent from oil and natural gas. The global reserves are much deeper as well.

Proponents argue coal is better than it used to be due to “clean coal” technologies. It is something of a misnomer, however, because the “clean” largely applies only to particulate matter and not to carbon emissions. While no one will bemoan a reduction in airborne soot, it’s the carbon we don’t want getting out. To be fair, the plants on the drawing board are models of waste recycling and efficient cooling, but none of that serves to deter the inevitable warming effect from the plants’ exhausts.

So far, 50 plants are on schedule to be opened over the next five years. Each has been given a life expectancy of at least fifty.

Via NY Times

Where U.S. carbon dioxide emissions come from…and where they go.

A new system for mapping carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. will help regulators figure out exactly where these emissions are coming from and how best to reduce them. Among human-produced gases that contribute to climate change, carbon dioxide is public enemy number one.

A group of researchers at Purdue University, led by atmospheric scientist Kevin Gurney, created the interactive mapping system. Called Vulcan, the system tracks the hourly output of carbon dioxide—emitted when fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline are burned—from factories, power plants and other sources across the country. Vulcan shows carbon dioxide emissions at a scale that is 100 times more detailed than previous maps.

Vulcan has already revealed that the southeastern U.S. is a much more important source of emissions than previously realized. Also, the maps reveal that much of the carbon dioxide gas emitted into the atmosphere gets blown toward the north Atlantic.

Animated versions of the map [see video below] show how emissions fluctuate from day to night, and from summer to winter. For example, scientists have discovered that some regions experience huge releases of carbon dioxide in the late winter. The Vulcan data is available for anyone to download. The researchers are also working on a mapping system called the Hestia Project, which will quantify carbon dioxide emissions around the planet.