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America's growing elderly population endangered by rising heat, wildfires

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Saturday, July 20, 2024

The rising frequency and intensity of extreme heat events are exacerbating the health and safety concerns of America's older population — an already vulnerable community, and one that's growing fast. "We're seeing increasing heat and increasing extremes of heat," said Ian Neel, a geriatrician and an associate professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, at a recent webinar.  "But we're also seeing increasing frequency of older adults, and older adults are one of the more at-risk populations for heat related injuries," he added. The population of Americans 65 or older ballooned from roughly 40 million to 56 million between 2010 and 2020, and it is projected to grow by another 17 million by the end of this decade. At the same time, temperatures are swelling around the world, shattering heat records and contributing to an increase in wildfires. Tarik Benmarhnia, an associate professor in climate change epidemiology at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, described extreme heat as "a huge, silent and sneaky killer." While prevailing estimates today directly link between 6,000 and 7,000 American deaths to heat each year, Benmarhnia challenged that figure as "only the tip of the iceberg." When considering how extreme heat can also trigger complications in an aging population living with chronic diseases, he said that this number could be as high as 12,000 to 20,000 annual deaths. Neel, who works predominantly with older adults experiencing advanced dementia, characterized heat as "one of the major things that we see as a huge detriment on patients' health." "Invariably, what we see every summer, more and more frequently, is an increasing incidence of older adults coming in with falls," Neel said. Those falls are often "related to dehydration, related to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, as well as serious sequelae of heat stroke," he added, using the medical term for a condition that results from a previous injury or disease. Zooming in on his own region, Neel discussed the wide range of communities throughout San Diego County — noting that further east in the high desert, there is typically a smaller incidence of central air conditioning in homes. As such, he explained that "having access to community centers that may have central air if you can't get it, ways to try to mitigate cooling," is an essential step toward alleviating the threats extreme heat poses on older Americans. "It's easy to say, 'Oh, buy central air,' but people are struggling financially everywhere, so it's just not an easy fix," Neel acknowledged. "One of the biggest and most important things is to make sure that you have access and that you are drinking water and staying hydrated," he said. Another unique issue challenging geriatricians like Neel is the fact that they can "try to educate a patient with dementia on how to keep safe in the heat, but they're not going to remember," the physician added. Neel therefore called for increased awareness on a societal level — encouraging relatives and neighbors to look out for older loved ones who could be prone to heat stroke. For example, he recommended that friends and family schedule check-ins with these individuals to ensure that they aren't wandering around in the backyard. Neel recalled a recent instance in which he saw a dementia patient with third degree burns all over her body. For those people who lack air conditioning and who tend to be alone during daylight hours, insurance often funds visits to adult day centers equipped with cooling facilities, he added. Carson De Fries, a PhD candidate in social work at Denver University, echoed many of these sentiments — stressing the need to provide older adults with places they can cool off during the day — and the transportation to get there. "Heat is incredibly dangerous to anyone, but especially older adults," she told The Hill in an interview this week. De Fries, who last summer co-authored a review focused on wildfires and older adults, likewise urged local-level action on the part of other community members. She encouraged neighbors and relatives to speak with older adults in the area, assess what their needs are and perhaps consult with caregivers and other experts about what actions could be most beneficial. In last year’s review, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, De Fries and her colleagues analyzed 75 studies that mainly focused on the health effects of wildfires — such as smoke exposure and poor air quality — on older adults worldwide. "Significant numbers of people delay evacuation during a wildfire event, often leading to increased evacuation danger," the authors observed. When contending with natural disasters, older adults are more prone to "mobility limitations, decreased social supports, difficulty maintaining necessary health regimens and limited access to information about disaster preparedness," according to the analysis. Chronic conditions, which are more common among older adults, may require specific diets and medicines — needs that can be challenging to fulfill during such events, the authors noted. "As a result of these age-related risks, older adults are disproportionately negatively impacted by natural disasters when compared to other age groups," they added. The authors cited Hurricane Katrina as an example — finding that about 71 percent of those who perished were older than 65, even though such individuals made up just 15 percent of the New Orleans population. Unlike hurricanes, which usually occur with some warning, De Fries noted that "wildfires can start quickly and spread quickly." At that point, older adults may either not be aware of the blaze in the first place or may not have the means to evacuate, she stressed. Amid the increasing threat of weather conditions so extreme that they warrant evacuation, the American Heart Association recently published a disaster-planning guide for older Americans. During Hurricane Ian in Florida in 2022, many of the 150 individuals who died were older adults who had heart-related issues, power outages, medical device failures or lack of access to care. Without a heads-up that evacuation may be imminent, affected individuals might not have time "to put a package together with medications and all the things they need on a daily basis,” Lindsay Peterson, of the University of South Florida, said in a statement included in the guidelines. "A lot of people say, 'I can't do this. I'm just going to hope for the best,'" she said. Chief among the document’s recommendations was the creation of an evacuation plan that includes these additional needs. Such a plan could involve going to a friend or relative's home or reaching out to local emergency agencies to learn what public resources might be in place. The guidelines also suggested copying all personal identification, medical records and insurance documents, as well as setting aside cash and extra medications in case a longer-term evacuation becomes necessary. During situations in which evacuation isn't critical but lengthy power outages are possible, the guidelines also urged older Americans to acquire a generator — and sufficient fuel — to keep medical devices functioning. Going forward, De Fries, from Denver University, said she believes it will also be critical for researchers to start speaking with members of this unique population themselves. "There's a lot of space for working with older adults more and hearing directly from them about what they need and what would be helpful for them during these times," she added.

The rising frequency and intensity of extreme heat events are exacerbating the health and safety concerns of America's older population — an already vulnerable community, and one that's growing fast. "We're seeing increasing heat and increasing extremes of heat," said Ian Neel, a geriatrician and an associate professor at the University of California San Diego School of...

The rising frequency and intensity of extreme heat events are exacerbating the health and safety concerns of America's older population — an already vulnerable community, and one that's growing fast.

"We're seeing increasing heat and increasing extremes of heat," said Ian Neel, a geriatrician and an associate professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, at a recent webinar. 

"But we're also seeing increasing frequency of older adults, and older adults are one of the more at-risk populations for heat related injuries," he added.

The population of Americans 65 or older ballooned from roughly 40 million to 56 million between 2010 and 2020, and it is projected to grow by another 17 million by the end of this decade. At the same time, temperatures are swelling around the world, shattering heat records and contributing to an increase in wildfires.

Tarik Benmarhnia, an associate professor in climate change epidemiology at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, described extreme heat as "a huge, silent and sneaky killer."

While prevailing estimates today directly link between 6,000 and 7,000 American deaths to heat each year, Benmarhnia challenged that figure as "only the tip of the iceberg." When considering how extreme heat can also trigger complications in an aging population living with chronic diseases, he said that this number could be as high as 12,000 to 20,000 annual deaths.

Neel, who works predominantly with older adults experiencing advanced dementia, characterized heat as "one of the major things that we see as a huge detriment on patients' health."

"Invariably, what we see every summer, more and more frequently, is an increasing incidence of older adults coming in with falls," Neel said.

Those falls are often "related to dehydration, related to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, as well as serious sequelae of heat stroke," he added, using the medical term for a condition that results from a previous injury or disease.

Zooming in on his own region, Neel discussed the wide range of communities throughout San Diego County — noting that further east in the high desert, there is typically a smaller incidence of central air conditioning in homes.

As such, he explained that "having access to community centers that may have central air if you can't get it, ways to try to mitigate cooling," is an essential step toward alleviating the threats extreme heat poses on older Americans.

"It's easy to say, 'Oh, buy central air,' but people are struggling financially everywhere, so it's just not an easy fix," Neel acknowledged.

"One of the biggest and most important things is to make sure that you have access and that you are drinking water and staying hydrated," he said.

Another unique issue challenging geriatricians like Neel is the fact that they can "try to educate a patient with dementia on how to keep safe in the heat, but they're not going to remember," the physician added.

Neel therefore called for increased awareness on a societal level — encouraging relatives and neighbors to look out for older loved ones who could be prone to heat stroke.

For example, he recommended that friends and family schedule check-ins with these individuals to ensure that they aren't wandering around in the backyard. Neel recalled a recent instance in which he saw a dementia patient with third degree burns all over her body.

For those people who lack air conditioning and who tend to be alone during daylight hours, insurance often funds visits to adult day centers equipped with cooling facilities, he added.

Carson De Fries, a PhD candidate in social work at Denver University, echoed many of these sentiments — stressing the need to provide older adults with places they can cool off during the day — and the transportation to get there.

"Heat is incredibly dangerous to anyone, but especially older adults," she told The Hill in an interview this week.

De Fries, who last summer co-authored a review focused on wildfires and older adults, likewise urged local-level action on the part of other community members. She encouraged neighbors and relatives to speak with older adults in the area, assess what their needs are and perhaps consult with caregivers and other experts about what actions could be most beneficial.

In last year’s review, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, De Fries and her colleagues analyzed 75 studies that mainly focused on the health effects of wildfires — such as smoke exposure and poor air quality — on older adults worldwide.

"Significant numbers of people delay evacuation during a wildfire event, often leading to increased evacuation danger," the authors observed.

When contending with natural disasters, older adults are more prone to "mobility limitations, decreased social supports, difficulty maintaining necessary health regimens and limited access to information about disaster preparedness," according to the analysis.

Chronic conditions, which are more common among older adults, may require specific diets and medicines — needs that can be challenging to fulfill during such events, the authors noted.

"As a result of these age-related risks, older adults are disproportionately negatively impacted by natural disasters when compared to other age groups," they added.

The authors cited Hurricane Katrina as an example — finding that about 71 percent of those who perished were older than 65, even though such individuals made up just 15 percent of the New Orleans population.

Unlike hurricanes, which usually occur with some warning, De Fries noted that "wildfires can start quickly and spread quickly." At that point, older adults may either not be aware of the blaze in the first place or may not have the means to evacuate, she stressed.

Amid the increasing threat of weather conditions so extreme that they warrant evacuation, the American Heart Association recently published a disaster-planning guide for older Americans. During Hurricane Ian in Florida in 2022, many of the 150 individuals who died were older adults who had heart-related issues, power outages, medical device failures or lack of access to care.

Without a heads-up that evacuation may be imminent, affected individuals might not have time "to put a package together with medications and all the things they need on a daily basis,” Lindsay Peterson, of the University of South Florida, said in a statement included in the guidelines.

"A lot of people say, 'I can't do this. I'm just going to hope for the best,'" she said.

Chief among the document’s recommendations was the creation of an evacuation plan that includes these additional needs. Such a plan could involve going to a friend or relative's home or reaching out to local emergency agencies to learn what public resources might be in place.

The guidelines also suggested copying all personal identification, medical records and insurance documents, as well as setting aside cash and extra medications in case a longer-term evacuation becomes necessary.

During situations in which evacuation isn't critical but lengthy power outages are possible, the guidelines also urged older Americans to acquire a generator — and sufficient fuel — to keep medical devices functioning.

Going forward, De Fries, from Denver University, said she believes it will also be critical for researchers to start speaking with members of this unique population themselves.

"There's a lot of space for working with older adults more and hearing directly from them about what they need and what would be helpful for them during these times," she added.

Read the full story here.
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Living Near Polluted Missouri Creek as a Child Tied to Later Cancer Risk

By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Folks who grew up near a polluted Missouri creek during the 1940s...

THURSDAY, July 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Folks who grew up near a polluted Missouri creek during the 1940s through 1960s may have higher odds for cancer now, new research shows.The study focused on Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County. The area was contaminated with radioactive waste from the U.S. government’s atomic bomb program during World War II.Back then, uranium was processed in St. Louis and nuclear waste was stored near the city’s airport. That waste leaked into Coldwater Creek, which runs through several residential neighborhoods.Researchers found that people who lived within one kilometer (0.62 miles) of the creek as kids had an 85% higher risk of developing certain cancers later in life compared to those who lived more than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away.Those cancers include leukemia, thyroid cancer and breast cancer, which are known to be linked to radiation exposure.“The closer the childhood residence got to Coldwater Creek, the risk of cancer went up, and pretty dramatically," lead researcher Marc Weisskopf, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told The Wall Street Journal.For the study, Weisskopf’s team surveyed more than 4,200 adults who lived in the St. Louis area as children between 1958 and 1970.These people had donated their baby teeth years ago for radiation research. The new survey asked about cancer and other health issues.About 1 in 4 participants said they had been diagnosed with cancer. Risk dropped the farther someone lived from the creek as a child.Outside experts who reviewed the findings described them as concerning.“It emphasizes the importance of appreciating that radioactive waste is carcinogenic, particularly to children, and that we have to ensure that we have to clean up any remaining waste that’s out there,” Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a radiation risk expert at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Journal.In 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began placing warning signs along parts of the creek that still have radioactive waste, The Journal reported.The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reported in 2019 that contamination have raised the risk of leukemia and lung and bone cancer. Later exposures, starting in the 2000s, were linked to a slight increase in lung cancer for those who lived nearby.But the agency said it’s hard to link any one person’s cancer directly to radiation. Genetics, lifestyle and other factors could also play a role.In this study, radiation exposure wasn’t directly measured. Cancer cases were also self-reported, not confirmed by medical records. Weisskopf plans to measure radiation levels using the stored baby teeth in future research.Radiation exposure has long been tied to cancer, but this study is among the first to look at lower, long-term environmental exposure in the U.S., not just high levels from nuclear disasters or bombings."Radiation, when it’s given unnecessarily, only causes risk," Dr. Howard Sandler, chair of radiation oncology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told The Journal.SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Disposable Vapes Release Toxic Metals, Lab Study Says

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, July 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People using cheap disposable vape devices are likely inhaling high...

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, July 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People using cheap disposable vape devices are likely inhaling high levels of toxic metals with every puff, a recent study says.After a few hundred puffs, some disposable vapes start releasing levels of toxic metals higher than found in either last-generation refillable e-cigarettes or traditional tobacco smokes, researchers reported in the journal ACS Central Science.These metals can increase a person’s risk of cancer, lung disease and nerve damage, researchers said.“Our study highlights the hidden risk of these new and popular disposable electronic cigarettes — with hazardous levels of neurotoxic lead and carcinogenic nickel and antimony — which stresses the need for urgency in enforcement,” senior researcher Brett Poulin, an assistant professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California-Davis, said in a news release.Earlier studies found that the heating elements of refillable vapes could release metals like chromium and nickel into the vapor people breathe.For this study, researchers analyzed seven disposable devices from three well-known vape brands: ELF Bars, Flum Pebbles and Esco Bar.Before they were even used, some of the devices had surprisingly high levels of lead and antimony, researchers reported. The lead appears to have come from leaded copper alloys used in the devices, which leach into the e-liquid.The team then activated the disposable vapes, creating between 500 and 1,500 puffs for each device, to see whether their heating elements would release more metals.Analysis of the vapor revealed that:Levels of metals like chromium, nickel and antimony increased as the number of puffs increased, while concentrations of zinc, copper and lead were elevated at the start. Most of the tested disposables released higher amounts of metals than older refillable vapes. One disposable released more lead during a day’s use than one would get from nearly 20 packs of tobacco cigarettes. Nickel in three devices and antimony in two devices exceeded cancer risk limits. Four devices had nickel and lead emissions that surpassed health risk thresholds for diseases other than cancer. These results reflect only three of the nearly 100 disposable vape brands now available on store shelves, researchers noted.“Coupling the high element exposures and health risks associated with these devices and their prevalent use among the underage population, there is an urgent need for regulators to investigate this issue further and exercise regulatory enforcement accordingly,” researchers wrote.SOURCES: American Chemical Society, news release, June 20, 2025; ACS Central Science, June 25, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Trying to Quit Smoking? These Expert-Backed Tips Can Help

By David Hill, MD, Chair, Board of Directors, American Lung Association HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — According to...

THURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2022, the majority of the 28.8 million U.S. adults who smoked cigarettes wanted to quit; approximately half had tried to quit, but fewer than 10% were successful.Many folks say quitting smoking was the hardest thing they have ever done. This includes people who have climbed mountains, corporate ladders, tackled childbirth and raised families.Successfully overcoming tobacco addiction is a process, and it takes time. It can’t be done at once. Individuals taught themselves how to smoke, vape or chew tobacco products and practiced for so long that the behavior became as automatic as breathing, eating or sleeping.Quitting, then, is a process of overcoming addiction and learned behaviors. Individuals must learn to manage nicotine addiction, unlearn their automatic behavior of tobacco use, and replace it with healthy new alternatives.Because tobacco dependence is a chronic relapsing condition, Freedom From Smoking® identifies quitting tobacco use and maintaining abstinence as a process in which a person may cycle through multiple periods of relapse and remission before experiencing long-term lifestyle and behavior change.The CDC suggests that it takes eight to 11 attempts before quitting permanently.It’s essential to understand three challenges associated with quitting and create a plan to address each with proven-effective strategies:1. Psychological Link of Nicotine Addiction Over time, using tobacco products becomes an automatic behavior that needs to be unlearned.  After quitting, emotions can overwhelm a person.  Grief can also play an important role in the quitting process.  Create support systems through counseling classes, and among family, friends and co-workers. Mark a calendar for every day you are tobacco-free and reward yourself for days you avoid use. Use positive self-talk when cravings arise, such as “the urge will pass whether I smoke or not” or “smoking is not an option for me.”2. Sociocultural Link of Nicotine AddictionCertain activities and environmental cues can trigger the urge to smoke. As people mature, social factors or cues play a role in continuing use.  People who use tobacco may be reluctant to give up those connections or routines.  Identify your triggers and use replacements such as cinnamon sticks, doodling on a notepad or finding another activity to keep your hands busy. Create change and break routine by using the 3 A’s — AVOID (the situation), ALTER (the situation) or ALTERNATIVE (substitute something else). Keep a quit kit/survival kit with you at all times with items you can use to replace tobacco product use when the urge comes.3. Biological (Physical) Link of Nicotine AddictionAddiction occurs when a substance — like nicotine, alcohol or cocaine — enters the brain and activates the brain’s receptors for that substance, producing pleasure.  When a person quits, the brain’s nicotine receptors activate, creating cravings and withdrawal symptoms.  Over time, the receptors become inactive, and the withdrawal symptoms and urges to use fade away. Use cessation medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (prescription or over-the-counter) in the proper doses for the full time period recommended by a clinician. Do not stop treatment early. Exercise alternative ways to release dopamine such as physical activity or listening to music.  Use stress management techniques, including deep breathing and relaxation exercises, daily if possible.Nearly 2 in 3 adults who have ever smoked cigarettes have successfully quit, according to the CDC You can, too! To learn more about strategies for countering the challenges associated with the three-link chain of nicotine addiction, visit Quit Smoking & Vaping | American Lung Association.Dr. David Hill is a member of the Lung Association's National Board of Directors and is the immediate past chair of the Northeast Regional Board of the American Lung Association. He serves on the Leadership Board of the American Lung Association in Connecticut and is a former chair of that board. He is a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician with Waterbury Pulmonary Associates and serves as their director of clinical research. He is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, an assistant clinical professor at the Frank Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, and a clinical instructor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Lead Exposure Can Harm Kids' Memory, Study Says

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Even low levels of lead exposure can harm kids' working memory,...

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Even low levels of lead exposure can harm kids' working memory, potentially affecting their education and development, according to a new study.Exposure to lead in the womb or during early childhood appears to increase kids' risk of memory decay, accelerating the rate at which they forget information, researchers reported July 9 in the journal Science Advances.“There may be no more important a trait than the ability to form memories. Memories define who we are and how we learn,” said senior researcher Dr. Robert Wright, chair of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.“This paper breaks new ground by showing how environmental chemicals can interfere with the rate of memory formation,” Wright said in a news release.For the study, researchers took blood lead measurements from the mothers of 576 children in Mexico during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Later, the team took samples directly from the kids themselves, at ages 4 to 6.Between 6 and 8 years of age, the kids took a test called the delayed matching-to-sample task, or DMST, to measure their rate of forgetting.In the test, kids had to remember a simple shape for up to 32 seconds after it had been briefly shown to them, and then choose it from three offered options.The test lasted for 15 minutes, with correct responses rewarding the child with tokens that could be exchanged for a toy at the end of the experiment.“Children with higher levels of blood lead forgot the test stimulus faster than those with low blood lead levels,” Wright said.Researchers noted that the Mexican children in the study had higher median blood lead levels than those typically found in U.S. kids 6 to 10 years old – 1.7 Ug/dL versus 0.5 Ug/dL. (Median means half were higher, half were lower.)Children in Mexico are exposed to lead through commonly used lead-glazed ceramics used to cook, store and serve food, researchers said.However, the Mexican kids’ blood lead levels were still lower than the 3.5 Ug/dL level used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify kids in the United States with more lead exposure than others, researchers added.“In the U.S., the reduction of environmental exposures to lead, such as lead-based paint in homes, lead pipes, and lead in foods such as spices, is still of continued importance as even low levels of lead can have detrimental effects on children’s cognitive function and development,” researchers wrote in their paper.This study also shows that the DMST test can be used to help test the effect of other environmental hazards on kids’ memory, researchers said.“Children are exposed to many environmental chemicals, and this model provides a validated method to further assess the effect of additional environmental exposures, such as heavy metals, air pollution, or endocrine disruptors, on children’s working memory,” co-lead researcher Katherine Svensson, a postdoctoral fellow in environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a news release.SOURCES: Mount Sinai, news release, July 9, 2025; Science Advances, July 9, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Nearly Half of Americans Still Live With High Levels of Air Pollution, Posing Serious Health Risks, Report Finds

The most recent State of the Air report by the American Lung Association found that more than 150 million Americans breathe air with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution

Nearly Half of Americans Still Live With High Levels of Air Pollution, Posing Serious Health Risks, Report Finds The most recent State of the Air report by the American Lung Association found that more than 150 million Americans breathe air with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution Lillian Ali - Staff Contributor April 25, 2025 12:50 p.m. For 25 of the 26 years the American Lung Association has reported State of the Air, Los Angeles—pictured here in smog—has been declared the city with the worst ozone pollution in the United States. David Iliff via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0 Since 2000, the American Lung Association has released an annual State of the Air report analyzing air quality data across the United States. This year’s report, released on Wednesday, found the highest number of people exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution in a decade. According to the findings, 156 million Americans—or 46 percent of the U.S. population—live with levels of particle or ozone pollution that received a failing grade. “Both these types of pollution cause people to die,” Mary Rice, a pulmonologist at Harvard University, tells NPR’s Alejandra Borunda. “They shorten life expectancy and drive increases in asthma rates.” Particle pollution, also called soot pollution, is made up of minuscule solid and liquid particles that hang in the air. They’re often emitted by fuel combustion, like diesel- and gasoline-powered cars or the burning of wood. Ozone pollution occurs when polluting gases are hit by sunlight, leading to a reaction that forms ozone smog. Breathing in ozone can irritate your lungs, causing shortness of breath, coughing or asthma attacks. The 2025 State of the Air report, which analyzed air quality data from 2021 to 2023, found 25 million more people breathing polluted air compared to the 2024 report. The authors link this rise to climate change. “There’s definitely a worsening trend that’s driven largely by climate change,” Katherine Pruitt, the lead author of the report and national senior director for policy at the American Lung Association, tells USA Today’s Ignacio Calderon. “Every year seems to be a bit hotter globally, resulting in more extreme weather events, more droughts, more extreme heat and more wildfires.” Those wildfires produce the sooty particles that contribute to particulate pollution, while extreme heat creates more favorable conditions for ozone formation, producing smog. While climate change is contributing to heavy air pollution, it used to be much worse. Smog has covered cities like Los Angeles since the early 20th century. At one point, these “hellish clouds” of smog were so thick that, in the middle of World War II, residents thought the city was under attack. The Optimist Club of Highland Park, a neighborhood in northeast Los Angleles, wore gas masks at a 1954 banquet to highlight air pollution in the city. Los Angeles Daily News via Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY 4.0 The passage of the Clean Air Act and the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 marked a turning point in air quality, empowering the government to regulate pollution and promote public health. Now, six key air pollutants have dropped by about 80 percent since the law’s passage, according to this year’s report. But some researchers see climate change as halting—or even reversing—this improvement. “Since the act passed, the air pollution has gone down overall,” Laura Kate Bender, an assistant vice president at the American Lung Association, tells CBS News’ Kiki Intarasuwan. “The challenge is that over the last few years, we’re starting to see it tick back up again, and that’s because of climate change, in part.” At the same time, federal action against climate change appears to be slowing. On March 12, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced significant rollbacks and re-evaluations, declaring it “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen.” Zeldin argued that his deregulation will drive “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.” Included in Zeldin’s push for deregulation is a re-evaluation of Biden-era air quality standards, including those for particulate pollution and greenhouse gases. The EPA provided a list of 31 regulations it plans to scale back or eliminate, including limits on air pollution, mercury emissions and vehicles. This week, the EPA sent termination notices to nearly 200 employees at the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. “Unfortunately, we see that everything that makes our air quality better is at risk,” Kate Bender tells CBS News, citing the regulation rollbacks and cuts to staff and funding at the EPA. “If we see all those cuts become reality, it’s gonna have a real impact on people’s health by making the air they breathe dirtier.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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