Environmental Pollution by Benzene and PM10 and Clinical Manifestations of Systemic Sclerosis: A Correlation Study

Abstract

Atmospheric air pollution has been associated with a range of adverse health effects. The environment plays a causative role in the development of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). The aim of the present study is to explore the association between particulate (PM10) and benzene (B) exposure in Italian patients with systemic sclerosis and their clinical characteristics of the disease. A correlation study was conducted by enrolling 88 patients who suffer from SSc at the Fondazione Policlinico “A. Gemelli” in Rome (Italy) in the period from January 2013 to January 2014. The average mean concentrations of B (in 11 monitoring sites) and PM10 (in 14 sites) were calculated using data from the Regional Environmental Protection Agency’s monitoring stations located throughout the Lazio region (Italy) and then correlated with the clinical characteristics of the SSc patients. Of the study sample, 92.5% were female. The mean age was 55 ± 12.9 years old and the mean disease duration from the onset of Raynaud’s phenomenon was 13.0 ± 9.4 years. The Spearman’s correlation showed that concentrations of B correlate directly with the skin score (R = 0.3; p ≤ 0.05) and inversely with Diffusing Lung Carbon Monoxide (DLCO) results (R = −0.36; p = 0.04). This study suggests a possible role of B in the development of diffuse skin disease and in a worse progression of the lung manifestations of SSc.

How Energy Consumption and Pollutant Emissions Affect the Disparity of Public Health in Countries with High Fossil Energy Consumption

“…Second, our results showed that both PM10 and per capita greenhouse gas emissions were significantly negatively correlated with expected life expectancy. These findings that pollutant emissions cause negative impact on public health are similar to the results proposed by [2,46,47]. In contrast to [48], this paper does not provide empirical evidence for the conclusion that greenhouse gases have contributed to the human development index.…”

“…Rapid economic growth not only triggers massive use of fossil energy, but also leads to a rise of emissions of various types of pollutants [1]. Pollutant emissions caused by fossil energy consumption have been analyzed to endanger public physical and mental health [2,3], and numerous previous studies have found that such pollutant (e.g., PM10, PM2.5, and SO 2 ) can have a negative effect on public health [4,5,6]. Sharma et al [7] examined the link between air quality and public health in the Delhi region, and found that pollutant emissions were triggering an increase in diseases in industrialized economies.…”

What Makes Antibodies Against G Protein-Coupled Receptors so Special? A Novel Concept to Understand Chronic Diseases

“…In addition to microbes, exposure to diesel increased ETAR expression in the lungs of mice (45). In SSc, associations are present between the severity of interstitial lung disease (ILD) with the exposure to Benzol, which is another surrogate marker for traffic-induced air pollution (46). Here, endothelin receptor expressions are increased in the lungs (47).…”

The Relevance of Indoor Air Quality in Hospital Settings: From an Exclusively Biological Issue to a Global Approach in the Italian Context

“…Their exposure takes on particular significance and importance both for the vulnerabilities of the users (i.e., patients with various pathologies, with an acute health status, with different immune responses, people with disabilities elderly, etc. ), and for the times of permanence in the hospital [29][30][31][32][33]. In all these healthcare environments for different needs, the healthcare and technical and administrative staffs, and the users (caregivers, elderly people, children, volunteers, students, visitors, outsourcing services' staffs, maintenance workers and suppliers, etc.…”

“…patients with various pathologies, with an acute health status, with different immune responses, people with disabilities elderly, etc. ), and for the times of permanence in the hospital [29][30][31][32][33].…”