Air traffic as a factor of environmental pollution
and of damage to health
by Dr. Antonella Litta
Dr. Antonella Litta, in addition of
being a GP and a Specialist in Rheumatology, is also a Speaker of the
International Society of Doctors for the Environment - Italia for the
e-mail: isde.viterbo@libero.it; antonella.litta@libero.it
The
problem.
During last decade, air traffic has shown a period of constant increase
above all in respect to goods transportation and low-cost flights usually
linked to that kind of tourism also know as « bite and escape ». Whilst
only a small portion of world population uses to fly, the dramatic consequences
of the climatic overheating, caused also by air transportation, are felt by the
whole mankind in terms of desertification, floods, cyclones, and climatic
devastations as grave as to determine destructions and famine in always larger
and larger areas of our planet. [M. Correggia.2007].
Air traffic accounts in a sizeable way in the emissions of carbon
dioxide - the most credited international estimates go from a minimum of 3% to
a maximum of 10% - and therefore they contribute in a decisive manner to the
greenhouse effect and to air pollution including also the acoustical and
electromagnetic ones [Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 2007;
Passchier W., 2000; Pokhodzei L. V., 2004].
According to evaluations of Eurocontrol (www.eurocontrol.int), an
organization to which 38 European States participate and whose main purpose is
the development and maintenance of an efficient system of air traffic control
at a European level, the number of flights within the European Union will
double in 2020 over 2003 and in equal measure also the measure of harmful
emissions from air transport. Air traffic is thus viewed more and more as an
element of environmental pollution and
of harm to the health. The environmental and sanitary problematic linked to
this particular type of mobility are several and have to do, particularly, with
emissions produced by air engines, and the electromagnetic pollution suffered
by residents in areas close to airports [Royal Commission on Environmental
Pollution, 207].
*
The
emissions.
Emissions originating from aircraft engines using kerosene (a mixture
composed by different types of hydrocarbons) are generally similar, as to
composition, to those generated by combustion of other fossil fuels but
strongly increase the greenhouse effect for they are released directly into the
atmosphere: in the higher part of the troposphere and in the lower one of the
stratosphere and for such reason they result yet more harmful [Tesseraux I.,
1998].
These emissions, made up by gas and dusts, alter the concentration of
the natural greenhouse gases, starting from carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3)
and methane (CH4); they also trigger off the formation of condensation trails
and increase cloud’s gatherings strongly contributing, also in this additional
manner, to climatic overheating [Kugele K.A., 2005].
*
Earth’s
atmosphere
Our atmosphere is a complex structure. It is divided into more layers
which, in order of altitude, are: the Troposphere, the Stratosphere, the
Mesosphere, the Ionosphere, and the Exosphere. Its average chemical composition
at ground level is given by: Nitrogen (N2): 78,08%, Oxygen (O2): 20,95%, Argon
(Ar): 0,93%, Steam (H2O): 0,33% on average (changing from about 0% to 5 - 6%),
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): 0,032%, Neon (Ne): 0,00181%,
Helium (He): 0,0005%, Methane(CH4): 0,0002%, Hydrogen(H2): 0,00005%, Krypton (Kr):0,000011%, Xenon (Xe):
0,000008%, Ozone (O3): 0,000004%. There
are also traces of Nitrogen Oxides (NO, NO2, N2O), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ammoniac (NH3), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2),
Hydrogen Sulphur (H2S). Not all
layers have the same gas concentrations: for example, steam is present almost solely
in the troposphere, the lowest layer, and is practically absent in the
thermosphere and in the exosphere which, vice versa, contain almost all of the
Helium and Hydrogen. Ozone is a gas mostly present in the stratosphere where it
forms an important protection screen against ultraviolet solar radiations.
In the high troposphere and in the low stratosphere, emissions of
nitrogen oxides by aircrafts tend to increase the quantity of ozone,
consequently augmenting the greenhouse effect.
At higher altitudes (18 km circa), the emissions of nitrogen oxides by
supersonic aircrafts tend to reduce the
quantity of nitrogen while at ground level increase their amount and therefore
their toxic effects on our health: eyes irritation, irritation of , and damage
to, high and low respiratory channels, disturbances and damages to the
cardiovascular system, especially in
children and senior people, and damages to the environment because nitrogen is
a co-responsible factor in the acid
rains phenomenon. Ozone therefore behaves in a different way according to its
height in the atmosphere: ozone present
in the stratosphere has a protective effect as it protects from the sun harmful
ultraviolet rays (UV) which favour skin cancer; nitrogen in the troposphere is
instead a very harmful pollutant depending on dosage and exposition period.
*
Studies.
Scientific literature and studies on environmental and sanitary impact
of air transportation are by now always more and more numerous.
A particularly important study, published in 1999, Special Report on
Aviation and the Global Atmosphere, made for the first time by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), in cooperation with the Scientific Assessment Panel to the
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, commissioned by
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICIAO), has started studying the
impact of air transportation on climate and ozone.
An other important study: Aircraft Particulate matter Emission
Estimation Trough all Phases of Flight [Kugele K.A., 2005], commissioned
and financed by the Eurocontrol agency, analysed in detail dust emissions,
coarse, thin and ultra thin particulate (PM) in all flight phases, in addition
to traditional gases released in the engines emissions: carbon dioxide (CO2),
carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx),
hydrocarbons, steam (H2O). The
study has highlighted how taking off and landing phases are those when the
greater number of dusts are introduced in the air.
*
Effects
on the health by the main gaseous polluters.
Nitrogen Oxides (NO, NO2, NOx) give rise to: irritation of the
respiratory apparatus, of the eyes, bronchitis and cardiovascular diseases.
Sulphur Oxides (SOx) gives rise to: irritations of nasal mucous
membranes and respiratory diseases.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) reduces the tie between haemoglobin and oxygen (O2)
giving rises to psychomotor disturbances, damage to vascular and nervous
system.
*
The
Particulate.
The term particulate derives from Particulate Matter (PM) and indicates
very small liquid or solid particles having a diameter measured in microns (the
one thousandth part of a millimetre) which remain suspended in air for periods
variable in time and in their mass and diameter before falling down. The
particles have a diameter which can vary from a couple of nanometres to 100
microns (1 nanometre is the one thousandth part of a micron). By the acronym
PM10, one indicates all particles having a diameter of less than 10 microns (µm); therefore PM2,5 is a subset of PM10 which in
turn is a subset of the coarse particulate, i.e. a particulate subject to
sediment and having a dimension greater
than 10 µm not in a position to penetrate into the respiratory segment and
going further than the larynx only for a small part.
PM10 - a particulate made up by particles smaller than 10 µm (one
hundredth millimitre) -, is an exhalable dust i.e. able to penetrate into the
higher respiratory segment (nose and larynx). The particles of a diameter
between 5 and 2.5 µm stop before the
bronchioles. The PM 2.5 - a fine particulate with a diameter of less than 2.5
µm (one quarter of one hundredth
millimetre) -, is a dust capable of an even deeper penetration in the lungs to
the alveoli where the gaseous exchange between blood and air takes place.
When even smaller dimensions are concerned (ultra fine particulate, UFP
or UP), we have a breathable dust capable of penetration directly into the
blood.
PM can be transported by atmospheric phenomena to places far away from
the production point. The Particulate can be divided into primary and secondary
based upon the producing processes: primary is the particulate introduced in
the atmosphere directly from accumulations or natural sources (volcanoes, rock
erosions, etc.) or through high temperature combustion processes for the
greater part of an anthropical origin (among them: car and air traffic, cement
factories, gas fired electrical plants, carbon and fuel oils, industries,
foundries and waste incinerators). The secondary PM, on the contrary, is that
that can be formed from the primary when the latter undergoes successive
chemical reactions, also in places far away from the locations were it was
originally produced, involving Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides, Ammonia (NH3)
and Volatile organic compounds (Vocs - Hydrocarbons other than methane): among
these, the best known is benzene [classified as carcinogen of class 2 by IARC
(International Agency for Research on Cancer)] which belongs to the polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons group (IPA) [Gatti A., 2007] [Iavicoli I., 2006].
The Particulate created by combustion in aircraft engines is fundamentally made up by sulphates, ammonium,
hydrogen iones, carbon particles, heavy metals, ceramics and organic compounds.
The Particulate (PM) derived from engine emissions plays an always more
important role in the debate on the harm
from air transportation to environment, ecosystems, and people’s health, mainly
of those living near airports; in fact, the bigger quantity of particulate is
produced exactly in the phases of takeoff and landing and also in the friction
of the wheels and brakes during landing. The PM released by the air emissions
has also an alternating climate action and contributes to the climatic
overheating causing harm to ecosystems [Tesseraux I., 1998; Kugele K. A., 2005;
Gatti A., 2007; Fang G.C., 2006].
*
Effects of the Particulate on vegetation and
ecosystems.
The PM is not an individual pollutant but a mixture of heterogeneous
pollutants different as to origin, measure and chemical composition. The
effects of the deposits of PM on vegetation and land depend on its chemical
composition and can produce effects both direct and indirect on the involved
ecosystem. The answer of the ecosystem to pollutants is a direct function of
the level of its sensibility and capability to exploit to the best the change
made by the presence of the PM. The PM with greater impact on environment is
the one that contains above all nitrates and sulphates; in depositing on the
soil it alters the availability and therefore the absorption of nourishment and de facto creates a
disequilibrium condition of the ecosystem and of its biodiversity with
repercussions on the feeding chain (eutrophication processes). Damages on
plants’ growth are instead originated by the acidification deriving from the
sulphur dioxides (SO2), also known as sulphuric anhydride, which reacting with
water are transformed into sulphuric acid causing the phenomenon of acid rains
(stoppage of growth and defoliation of vegetation); the same also happens with
Nitrogen oxide (NO) which, by transforming into nitric acid is co responsible of the acid
rains. Other damages are due to the direct deposit of the PM on leaves, small
branches and trunks of the plants and of the vegetation, which forms an
obstacle to the passing of light, thus reducing the photosynthesis of the
vegetable system and increasing the sensitivity to illnesses. [Kugele K.A.,
2005; Frati L., 2005].
*
Effect of PM on the atmosphere and on global
heating.
The “radiative forcing” is the measure of the influence of
a factor (for example, the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) in the
alteration of the balance of the incoming energy and of the outgoing
energy in the earth/atmosphere system.
It is an index of the weight of a factor in the complex mechanism of
climatic changes. A positive forcing tends to the heating of the terrestrial
surface whilst a negative one cools it down. The particulate alters the composition
of the atmosphere for it contributes to the “radiative forcing” i.e. to
the unbalance between the incoming solar energy (in the form of short type
electromagnetic waves) and the outgoing solar reflex energy (long type
electromagnetic waves).
In fact, once the solar radiation reaches the earth surface, it is
absorbed by the soil and the seas, which get heated and increase their
temperature.
As temperature increases, earth surface gives off energy in the form of
heat i.e. as an infrared radiation (long wave) till the moment when an
equilibrium is established between incoming solar energy flow and flow of earth
energy outgoing towards the space. Terrestrial atmosphere is a mixture of gas
possessing a characteristic propriety: it is transparent to “short wave”
radiation but it is opaque to the “long wave” radiation due to the presence of
some gasses as steam and carbon dioxide which are strong absorbers and natural
emitters of infrared radiation. This absorption capability is the one which
determines the natural greenhouse effect i.e. the capability of atmosphere to
retain infrared radiation reflected by earth surface, therefore maintaining a
constant average temperature for the planet Earth. The particulate emitted by
aircrafts together with carbon dioxide, by contributing to the formation of
trails and cloud gatherings which modify the absorption propriety and
refraction of infrared radiations in the different layers of the atmosphere
(also altering the proprieties of refraction of the solar light), contributes
to the greenhouse effect through the radiative forcing [Stuber N.,
2006].
*
The pathologies from dusts.
It is by now well documented by a very large and rigorous scientific
documentation that the fine and ultra fine PM penetrates through all organic
barriers and membranes, including the cranial nerves, the haematic-cerebral
barrier, the placenta, the endothelia, the plasmatic membranes, reaching the
cell nuclei with its load of heavy metals and other carcinogen factors
interfering in such a way with the repair
systems of DNA and with the mechanisms of genetic expression [Lewtas J.,
2007 - Oberdorster G., 2007]. Any high temperature source generates the
formation of particulate; the higher the combustion temperature the smaller the
dimension of the produced particles; the smaller the diameter of the particle,
the more its capability of penetration into the tissues. There are no
biological or artificial mechanisms, at the moment, capable of eliminating the
particulate once it is sequestrated by an organ or tissue through inhalation or
ingestion of food [Gatti A., 2007].
There are always more consistent evidences about how numerous
pollutants, introduced in the human body, induce inflammatory chronic processes
which determine a progressive cellular stress on organs and tissues, opening
the way to severe pathologies such as cancer and arteriosclerosis. Scientific
studies show the evident correlation between the exposure to fine and ultra
fine dusts and the increases in hospitalizations, in mortality, in respiratory
sickness, in chronic-degenerative illnesses (Alzheimer, Lateral Amyotrophic
Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis), in endocrine, neoplastic illnesses and those of
the cardiovascular system [Brook R.D., 2008; Bharathi, 2006].
An increment in the PM 2.5 micron atmospheric concentration bears with
it a parallel increment of mortality due to cardiovascular illnesses.
Regretfully, the laws now in force in Italy, foresee controls only for PM 10
concentration; such control is effected with the gravimetric method which
considers only the total mass and not the number of particles which compose it; in fact,
different is the impact that can have a coarse particle of 10 micron diameter
from that determined on an organism by the impact of 1,000,000 particles 0f 0.1
micron diameter whose total mass is equal to the 10 micron particle [Gatti A.,
2007).
Presently, what is more alarming for epidemiologists and paediatricians
all over the world, is the possibility that the genetic harm carried with the
presence of nanoparticles may hit the
maternal or paternal germinal cells (causing a possible transmission to
subsequent generations of serious lesions and pathologies) or directly the
foetus at the most delicate moment of its development [Nemmar A., 2006; Schulz
H., 2005; Lewtas J., 2007; Iavicoli I., 2006; Hertz-Picciotto I., 2008].
*
The
nanodusts
The term “nanodusts” indicates the dusts
having a diameter in the order of magnitude of the nanometres (a
nanometre equals to one thousandth of a micron); nanodusts, formed by heavy
metals and other compounds, due to their dimensions, can even penetrate into
the genome and epigenome altering the
proprieties of transcription and repair, so determining alterations capable of
causing permanent genetic damage and illnesses.
The chemical composition is of great importance in determining the
toxicity of the particle; obviously, particles containing lead or mercury are
much more dangerous than those
containing iron or sodium. The faster the ingestion or inhalation, the greater
is their danger. Also the shape of nanodusts is of importance in the capability
of producing damage: for example, those having a “needle” shaping as in the
asbestos are much more penetrating and able to start inflammatory processes of
reaction than those having a rounded shape [Gatti A., 2007; Oberdorster G.,
2005].
*
The
acoustic pollution.
The zones close to an airport are subject to levels of acoustic
pollution generated by the phases of approach, landing and takeoff of aircrafts
and of that connected with road traffic [Cohen B.S., 2008].
In 2003, the Regional Office for Europe of WHO, undertook a project for
the study of acoustic impact on populations. The final report of this project,
known as “Guidelines on night noise for Europe” (www.epicentro.iss.it/temi/ambiente/rumorenotturno.asp),
is the result of work of revision of scientific literature by a group of
experts chosen among 17 institutions of 12 European Countries. For Italy, the
participants were: the Rome University “
The results of the project give Governments important indications to
modify legislation relating to night noise. Out of this work, come the
following indications:
- up to 30 decibels: non substantial biological effects are
observed;
- between30 and 40 decibels: increase in the movements of the
body, the wake-ups, the sleep disturbances, the excitement. The effects appear
to be modest, but one cannot exclude that the vulnerable groups can feel them
in a greater measure;
- between 40 and 55 decibels: there is a marked increase of
negative effects; the greater part of exposed people is affected and starts
adapting to coexist with the noise. The vulnerable groups, at this exposure
level, are severely hit;
- over 55 decibels: the situation is considered dangerous at a
public health level. The ill effects are frequent and the cardiovascular system
starts to be under stress. The cardiovascular stress is the dominant effect.
Final recommendations of this document conclude: “for the primary prevention of the sub-clinic collateral effects of
night noise, the population should not be exposed to levels exceeding 30
decibels during the night time, considered to be the maximum threshold of
protection for the citizens, including the more vulnerable groups. All
Countries must be encouraged to gradually reduce, in the most possible
efficacious manner, the quota of people exposed to acoustic levels exceeding 55
and, afterwards, 40 decibels”.
The risk of contracting cardiovascular pathologies, insomnia and
disturbances of the sleeping phases, irritability, asthenia, disturbances of
the endocrine, digestive and hearing systems,
is very high in people under acoustic pollution, as is, since a very
long time, known and scientifically demonstrated. Many studies document the
increase of recourse to drugs for hypertension and insomnia in study groups of
residents in airport areas [European Civil Aviation Conference, 1997] [Franssen
E.A., 2004].
Well documented
are also the disturbances to learning in schools located in areas subject to
acoustic pollution. In a study published by the prestigious magazine «Lancet»: Aircraft and road traffic noise and children's
cognition and health: a cross-national study [Stansfeld S.A., 2005], were
analysed the effects of the noise produced by road and air traffic on the
learning development of children. The study grouped over 2800 children from 9
to 10 years of age attending 89 schools located near three important European
airports (Schiphol in Holland, Barajas in Spain e Heathrow in England).The
researchers measured the levels of acoustic pollution and related them with the
results of a series of cognitive tests from children. Analysing the data, it
was underscored that the exposure to acoustic pollution is prejudicial to the capability of reading in a correct way.
The exposure to
noise from road traffic does not seem to have an effect likewise significant on
the reading capability, but it resulted harmful on memory. An exposure at
elevated levels of both types of acoustic pollution is associated to a worse
life quality for children and to a net increase of stress. The authors of the
study conclude their work affirming that schools located nearby airports are
not healthy environments nor apt to education and growth of children. The study
Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near
Airports (Hyena): study design and noise exposure assessment, started in 2005, was
an international project financed by the European Community to study the
correlation between acoustic pollution coming from air traffic and that coming
from road traffic and the development of arterial hypertension. This work
selected and studied six thousand people (from 45 to 70 years of age) which had lived close to one of the six major
European airports. In Italy, one thousand people residing near the Milan
airport “Malpensa” were selected [ Jarup
L.,2005].
The conclusions
of this study, published in 2008, showed a significant relation between
the exposure, above all by night, to
noise produced by air traffic and the risk of developing arterial hypertension
whereas it does not suffer variations, during exposure in different hours of
the day, the risk associated with car noise. The arterial hypertension
increases the risk of heart attack of the myocardium and ictus therefore the
acoustic pollution must be put among the factors that can cause cardiovascular
illnesses. The study finally indicates that a reduction of the acoustic impact
from road traffic and from air night traffic, is a necessary measure in the
prevention of cardiovascular illnesses [Jarup L.,2008].
*
The
acoustic pollution in the proximity of the Ciampino airport (Rome)
CRISTAL (from
the acronym of the study centre which is finalising it: «Centro Regionale
Infrastrutture Sistemi Trasporto Aereo del Lazio» (i.e. Regional Centre for
Infrastructures and Air Transport Systems in the Lazio Region) has recently
brought to light the intermediate results of such research which shows as
people residing in the town halls of Ciampino, Marino and of the X Municipality
of Rome, suffer from extremely worrying levels of acoustic pollution from air
traffic . In fact, as above said, the guidelines of WHO affirm that over the 35
decibels, biological effects start to show up and become worse between 40 - 55
decibels, becoming very dangerous over 55 decibels; these limits have always
been abundantly exceeded in tests so far conducted by Cristal.
*
The
electromagnetic pollution.
This particular
form of pollution generated by electromagnetic fields is yet a less studied
aspect of air transportation. Radar systems of control towers and those on
board of aircrafts, together with the radio transmission antennas and with the electromagnetic systems utilised
for security controls, produce an electromagnetic pollution. The airport
workers and the on board personnel are subject to the electromagnetic fields
produced by all of these appliances whereas the residents in areas close to
airports can be exposed also to the effects of summation of electromagnetic
fields coming from other sources, in addition to airport structures and
aircrafts: telephone antennas, high tension electric cables, railroad electric
lines, our own cellular phones, etc. [Tikhonova
GI., 2003; Touitou Y., 2004; Luna T.D., 1997].
As a
confirmation of the importance of the study of this particular aspect of air
transportation, in past years, there has been in literature some signals of
clusters, groups of patients residing near the major London airports [Silman
A.J., 1990], affected by a very rare illness: the Sclerodermia, while an other cluster, always regarding this
illness, was studied in 1992 in a small town at Rome’s doors where the only
possible factor of environmental pollution could be represented by an elevated
number of antennas for radio - TV transmissions and antennas for land telephone
transmission, located exactly in centre of that small town [Valesini G., 1993].
The
electromagnetic fields (EMF) can be classified in: «low frequency» (they
include, for example, the frequencies of 50Hz used in Europe for the electric
network), and «high frequency» (radio waves, microwaves, etc.) applied above
all in the telecommunication sector and in the industrial processes. Cellular
phones, radio TV antennas and radars create electromagnetic fields of
radiofrequency (RF), from 10 MHz to 300GHz. These high frequency fields are
used for long distance information transmissions [Bionitiative Report, 2007].
The electromagnetic
fields exposure (EMF) induce currents and absorption of energy into the human
body tissues; these phenomena depend from the frequency and the coupling
mechanisms. The circulatory system and the nervous one are particularly
sensitive to the effects of EMF (electromagnetic fields) due to their electric
characteristics.
The effects of
EMF are classified in «thermal» and «non thermal». The «thermal effects»
(caused by the increase in body temperature induced by the electromagnetic
field) are well known and studied since a long time while it is necessary an
always better comprehension of the
«non-thermal effects».
Living organisms
continuously exchange energy with the surrounding environment through their
metabolic activity and are far away from the thermal balance.
For this reason
the addition of even small quantities of energy can bear significant
consequences to the energetic stability of the entire organism. A portion of
the energy of living systems helps maintaining oscillatory electric activities of
various type, in which the quantities of energy are warehoused. Examples of
such activities are the neural circuits of the brain that issue EM waves of
different frequency according to the status of the brain (watch, sleep: REM
phase and non-REM, etc), or the cardio circuits, neuromuscular ones, or those
that manage the circadian rhythms and so on. These are only the most familiar
examples that medicine recognises and uses since a long time, for example for
diagnostic purposes (electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromiogram,
just to mention the most common diagnostic techniques). Perhaps less familiar
are EM fields at very low frequency (ELF) associated with the electrochemistry
of the brain, with the flow of Calcium and the neurorecepting systems and the
EM fields at a high frequency (MO), existing at a cellular and sub cellular
level which preside the fundamental processes, for example the division of
cells. All of these activities are characterised by various frequencies, some of which having been
well defined (it is scientifically said that they constitute extremely
«coherent» EM excitations, defined «biological frequencies») [Lewis .G., 2006].
As a radio circuit can tune itself on an external frequency, i.e. recognise it
and receive energy from an EM wave characterised by that specific frequency
amplifying it to a level of more powerful intensity, likewise the biological EM
circuits can tune themselves and receive energy from external radiations. In
particular, if the external frequency equals or is very close to that of a bioactivity, the latter can be influenced
in many ways with «non thermal» or «at
low intensity» mechanisms such as:
- «resounding
amplification», which can reach an
energetic level unacceptably high from a biological viewpoint;
- «interference»
resulting in a degrade or in an inhibition of some essential activities, for
example the release of melatonin;
- «forcing»
of a bio frequency, even at an incompatible value to homeostasis;
- «ignition»
in short timings of some process for which the simple supply of endogen energy
is inadequate.
Some of the biological effects determined
by electromagnetic fields can henceforth be summarised in:
1)
Alteration of the
immune system determined by the
capability of the electromagnetic waves to modify the informal contents of the electromagnetic
signals intra and extra cellular.
2)
Modifications of the
permeability of the cellular membrane and consequent alteration of the flow of
ions biologically important, particularly
Calcium, Sodium and Potassium.
3)
Redistribution of the
membrane proteins, reorganisation of the
structures of micro filaments and changes in the intracellular concentration of calcium ions
Ca2 (homeostasis of Calcium).
4)
Intervention in the
production of Nitrogen oxide (NO), induction of «oxidative stress» with
consequent increase of the damages produced
by the free radicals on the biological macromolecules (the oxidative stress
increases also the capability of proliferation and production of collagen by
the fibroblasts).
5)
Increase of the angiogenesis through releasing
of fibroblasts having a growth factor beta-2 (FGF-2) per action on the vascular
endothelium.
6)
Cytogenetic damages,
(appearance of micro nuclei (MN) centromere negative for the chromosomal
alteration after the exposure in vitro of cellular cultures and in particular
of human fibroblasts at radiofrequencies).
7)
Alterations of the
synthesis of the epiphysial melatonin hormone, substance involved in
controlling many neuro-endocrine functions.
8)
Modifications of the
electro cerebral activity and of the permeability of the haematic encephalic
membrane with consequent damages to the cerebral neurons and alterations of the
functioning of the neuro receptors and the cerebral neurotransmitters.
Such mechanisms and effects were
demonstrated by studies and experimental data obtained through laboratory
systems (cellular cultures; mammals, in particular rodents), human volunteers
and subjects professionally exposed. Studies effected on subjects exposed by
reason of work to radiofrequencies have demonstrated alterations in the
biochemical and haematological parameters, in the electro cerebral activity, in
the neurovegetative system, in the capillaroscopic features and in those
ophthalmic logical development of cardiovascular illnesses in young age.
All studies show and concord on the need to
deepen and increase our knowledges about this particular factor of
environmental pollution also considering the always greater expansion and rapid
diffusion of newer and newer telecommunication technologies [Krewski D., 2007].
*
Defending
the right to health.
Lorenzo Tomatis,
ex president of IARC and of Isde (International Society of Doctors for the
Environment-Italia), affirmed: “all human beings are responsible for the
environment and medical doctors are doubly responsible”.
Lorenzo Tomatis
was a doctor, a scientist and writer but above all a just and honest man.
A «difficult»
personage, because capable to tell the truth in every circumstance. He
supported and demonstrated, in his long research activity, that the largest
number of illnesses derives from the interaction between the phenomena of
environmental pollution and human genetics. This certainty and awareness was
included also in the new deontological medical code which, in article 5, recites:
«The medical doctor must consider the environment in which man lives and
works, as fundamental in determining the health of the citizens (…) The medical
doctor favours, and participates to, all prevention, protection and promotion
initiatives concerning working locations and individual and collective health».
Therefore,
doctors are called for a role of responsibility in the protection and safeguard
of the environment exactly as first intervention for the defence of the health
of all people. Air traffic represents an irrefutable risk factor and a damage
to health and environment; henceforth it must be constantly studied, monitored
in its effects and subjected to programs and policies of control and reduction.
A biblio and site graphy to
deepen.
a) Some articles and books.
- Anderson K., Bows
A., Upham P., Growth scenarios for EU
& UK aviation: contradictions withclimatepolicy.January2006.Availableat:
http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/publications/working_papers/wp84.pdf
- Aydin Y.,Kaltenbach
M., Noise perception, heart rate and blood pressure in relation to aircraft
noise in the vicinity of the Frankfurt airport. Clin Res Cardiol. 2007 Jun; 96 (6) : 347-58. Epub 2007 Apr 10.
- Apat, (Agenzia per la protezione dell'ambiente e per i servizi
tecnici), Ottomila decessi l'anno in 13 citta' italiane per gli effetti a
lungo termine dell'inquinamento atmosferico da particolato. Comunicato
stampa, 15 giugno 2006, Roma.
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www.chooseclimate.org
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www.comitatoampugnano.it/index02.html
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