Breathing Polluted Air Nearly Doubles Chance Of Dementia In Women
While scientists have long tallied the health costs of air pollution in asthma, lung disease and cardiovascular disease, the impact of air pollutants on brain health has only begun to come to light.
Los Angeles Times:
The Surprising Link Between Air Pollution And Alzheimer’s Disease
With environmental regulations expected to come under heavy fire from the Trump administration, new research offers powerful evidence of a link between air pollution and dementia risk. For older women, breathing air that is heavily polluted by vehicle exhaust and other sources of fine particulates nearly doubles the likelihood of developing dementia, finds a study published Tuesday. And the cognitive effects of air pollution are dramatically more pronounced in women who carry a genetic variant, known as APOE-e4, which puts them at higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. (Healy, 1/31)
In other public health news —
The Bakersfield Californian:
Kern County Reports First Flu-Related Death Of Season
A Kern County resident died of the flu this week, a first for the season, and three others are hospitalized in Intensive Care Units as a severe strain of the flu sweeps throughout the state, county public health officials announced Tuesday. The person who died will not be identified, and public health officials are barred by a federal patient privacy act from disclosing gender or age, except to say he or she was younger than 65. (Pierce, 1/31)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Groups Sue California Department Of Pesticide Regulation
A Ventura County farmworker and two environmental justice groups are suing the California Department of Pesticide Regulation over how it issued new rules on the use of the fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene, sold as Telone. The fumigant is widely used on crops such as strawberries. The suit claims that the Department failed to follow recommendations of scientists at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Attorneys for the groups say it's a requirement under state law. The pesticide is listed as a carcinogen in California. (Quinton, 1/31)