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Particulate Matter

Particulate matter (PM) is a complex and diverse mixture of organic and inorganic particles, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets. During industrial and traffic-related combustion processes (like coal, wood, diesel, and gasoline), gasses are emitted into the atmosphere. These gasses transform in the atmosphere to create PM.

Although all PM is microscopic in size, it is divided into three main groups: coarse (up to 10 ug/m3), fine (up to 2.5 ug/m3), and ultra fine (up to 0.1 ug/m3). The smaller the particles are, the more hazardous they become – while coarse particles are exhaled more easily by the respiratory system, fine particles are inhaled while breathing and move from the lungs to the blood system, where they have the potential to cause greater harm. This means that different types of PM – coming from different sources – are not equally harmful. A study from 2002 confirms studies from the 1990's that showed a complex relationship between the emissions of pollutants and human exposure to these pollutants. The studies estimate that per ton of pollutants emitted, traffic-related PM was inhaled 10 times as much as PM from coal-burning power plants (1). A large body of research has focused on the health effects of PM2.5 which is emitted from traffic and industry-related combustion processes.

PM2.5 has especially adverse health effects on the cardiovascular system and on the respiratory system, exacerbating diseases such as asthma and bronchitis (2). Researchers at Johns Hopkins University discovered that short term exposure to PM2.5 significantly increased the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases among people 65 years of age or older (3). Studies among diabetics revealed that on days with the high sulfate particulate pollution there was an 11% decrease in vascular reactivity and a 13% decrease on days with high black carbon pollution (4). University of Southern California researchers found that the progression of atherosclerosis was more than twice as fast for people living within 100 meters of a major highway (5).

Healthy people may also suffer from the presence of PM2.5 in the air. A study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) found decreases in heart rate among healthy individuals over 57 years of age associated with exposure to both indoor and outdoor PM2.5 (6). Exposure to PM2.5 can also affect the birth weight of newborns. Increased exposure to PM in the first six week and last six weeks of pregnancy increases the risk of having a low-weight newborn by up to 30% (7).

Particulate Matter in Israel

In 2008 the Knesset approved the Clean Air Law, which came into effect in January,2011. The law grants the Ministry of Environmental Protection the mandate to set standards for maximum permissible car emissions, to be checked in the annual car inspection. In Israel, more than 80% of air pollution in the cities originates from traffic and PM2.5 levels are particularly high when measured near main roads.
It is too early to determine whether the new legislation will lead to a reduction in the pollution. The law also instructs local councils to draw a plan for reducing air pollution within their districts. In the United States, the Clean Air Act substantially reduced PM2.5 concentrations in the cities, subsequently leading to decreased mortality. The following studies provide some understanding of the ambient concentration of particulate matter around Israel.

The health effects of PM2.5 have not been widely studied in Israel. One study examined the influence of traffic-related air pollution on children in Tel Aviv between 1991-1999. The study compared the health of children in two neighborhoods, one which was highly exposed to traffic-related pollution and one that was less exposed, and found that children living in the highly exposed neighborhood were 1.5 times more likely to suffer from a phlegm cough, twice as likely to have sinus infections, and were more likely to be going through tonsil polyp surgery (8).
The proximity to North Africa's deserts and the Arabian Peninsula puts Israel at risk of exposure to high PM concentrations originating in dust. The dust, a health hazard in itself, may also carry with it other toxic anthropogenic pollutants (9).
A recent study conducted in Israel examined the composition of PM2.5 pollution in order to learn more about its toxicity levels. This study has found that for the most part, pollution in Israel is man-made (anthropogenic). Some of the particles are carried from Eastern Europe, and some are created by Israeli traffic and industry. PM2.5 is also emitted from ships burning fuel oil.
Average annual PM2.5 concentration in Israel ranges between 20-29 ug/m3; the target standard (equal to the American standard) is 15 ug/m3 and WHO's recommendation is 10 ug/3. A 2008 air quality monitoring report shows an annual deviation in all monitoring stations, rising, at times, to more than 193% from target standard. Dozens of high traffic-related PM2.5 concentration days were reported as well (10).

References

1) Smith, K.R. "Place makes the poison: Wesolowski award lecture – 1999'" Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemilogy, 12 (2002), pp. 167-171.
2) Maya Sadeh, "Will clean air law improve our health?", Health and Environment 2010 (in Hebrew).
3) Francesca Dominci et al. "Fine particulate matter associated with increase in hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases," (March, 2006)
4) Marie S. O'Neill et al. "Diabetics have higher risk for adverse cardiovascular effects from particulate air pollution," (June, 2005).
5) John Peters et al. "Living near a major roadway linked with atherosclerosis," (February, 2010), www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sep/2010/atherosclerosis.cfm
6) Jane Q. Koenig, "Cardiac and respiratory effects on fine particulate air pollution on the elderly (September, 2005) www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sep/2005/pm-elder.cfm
7) www.sviva.gov.il/Environment/Static/Binaries/ModulKvatzim/takanot-air-sk... (in Hebrew).
8) Ayana Goren and Sarah Helman, "The effect of traffic related air pollution on children's health living in Tel Aviv" (November 2000) (in Hebrew).
9) Yigal Erel, "Concentration of PM 2.5 in Israel's atmosphere and the character of natural particles versus artificial particles," Earth Sciences Institute, Hebrew University (December, 2006) (in Hebrew).
10. www.sviva.gov.il/Enviroment/bin/en.jsp?enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=index_pirsumim^l581&enZone=cat_one&enVersion=0&

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