Asthma and air pollution

The following information is designed to provide background information on Asthma and how air pollution can affect it.

You can jump to the information below using these links:

• Latest pollution levels for Surrey Heath
• What is Asthma?
• Causes of Asthma
• What Causes Asthma Symptoms to Occur?
• The Impacts of Air Pollution on Asthma?
• What can you do to protect yourselves if pollution levels are high?
• Further Information

Latest pollution levels for Surrey Heath

The latest pollution levels for Surrey Heath are shown in the table below.

	Towns and cities near busy roads	Elsewhere in towns and cities	Rural areas
Currently	Low (Index 2)	Low (Index 2)	Low (Index 2)
Forecast	Moderate (Index 6)	Moderate (Index 6)	Moderate (Index 6)

Last updated at 17:00:00 on 08/02/2012
This forecast is valid until 15:00 on 09/02/2012
The About Air Quality page has more information about these bandings.

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What is Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that affects 300 million people worldwide. In the UK, 6.5% of the population are affected by asthma. Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts in childhood.

When triggered, asthma can cause recurring periods of shortness of breath, wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), a tightening of the chest, shortness of breath, and coughing.

When the airways react to certain allergen triggers, the muscles around the airways inflame, swell and tighten causing the airways to narrow, and reduce the air flow in to your lungs.

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Causes of Asthma

The exact cause of asthma is unknown. Researchers believe it is an interaction with a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Causes of Asthma may include:

• Genes pasted down by parents who have asthma
• Antopy, an inherited tendency to develop allergies
• Contact with some airborne allergens and irritants during infancy or childhood when the immune system is developing
• Certain respiratory or viral infections (especially viral upper respiratory tract infections) during infancy or childhood

If asthma runs in your family, exposure to airborne irritants (e.g. tobacco smoke, ozone and smog) or airborne allergens (e.g. house dust mites, grass pollen) may make your airways more reactive to substances in the air you breathe.

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What Causes Asthma Symptoms to Occur?

A number of different stimuli can trigger or worsen asthma symptoms. Consulting your doctor is the best way to find out which stimuli may cause your asthma to flare up if you come in contact with them. Triggers may include:

• Allergens found in dust mites, animal fur, pollens from grasses, trees, fungi and flowers
• Irritants such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, chemicals or dust in the workplace, air fresheners
• Certain medicines such as aspirin, penicillin
• Sulphites in foods and wines
• Viral infections such as colds
• Exercise

A range of health conditions can make asthma harder to manage such as a runny nose, sinus infections, and psychological stress. The factors that trigger asthma are different for each person and there may be triggers for one person that does not affect another.

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The Impacts of Air Pollution on Asthma

Air pollution can be a stimulus that can be a trigger for asthma symptoms to flare up. Air pollution related to the burning of fossil fuels such as from vehicles, Industry, production of electricity domestic heating.

Such irritant pollutants known to trigger asthma symptoms are shown below. These links open in a new window and link to the UK Air Quality Archive.

• Smog
• Particulate Matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5)
• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂)
• Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂)
• Ozone (O₃) can be a problem for some people and levels are likely to be higher on hot, summer days.

These pollutants are thought to be one of the major reasons for the high prevalence of asthma in urban areas. People with asthma who smoke or who live near traffic typically require additional medications to help control their symptoms.

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What can you do to protect yourselves if pollution levels are high?

A number of steps can be taken to reduce and prevent symptoms of asthma. It is advisable you keep an eye on these Surrey Heath Air Quality pages, in addition to the UK Air Quality Archive. The BBC Weather website may also have useful information.

The following advice can help asthma sufferers when there is high pollution:

• Staying indoors with windows shut when possible is advised, and to keep children with known asthma indoors instead of playing outdoors.
• Air filters and room air cleaners may help prevent some asthma symptoms when indoors. When outdoors, reduce you're the time you are outside and exposed to high pollution.
• A number of filter based face masks are available to buy and can reduce the amount of pollutants breathed in during times of high pollution.
• Walking and cycling on quieter less used roads and side streets can reduce the exposure of vehicle emission pollutants.
• Avoiding heavy and prolonged exercise in open air environments when air pollution levels are high is advised to reduce exposure.

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Further Information

The following links may be useful to find out more about asthma. All links open in a new window.

• http://www.asthma.org.uk/
• http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/asthma/Pages/Introduction.aspx
• http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Asthma.htm
• http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Asthma/Asthma_WhatIs.html

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