Health impact assessment of traffic-related air pollution in Copenhagen Municipality

High-resolution exposure to traffic-related air pollution can be assessed by modelling levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which together with ultrafine particles mainly originate from diesel-powered vehicles in urban areas. The purpose of the study was to estimate the health benefits of reduced exposure to vehicle emissions assessed as NO2 among the citizens of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. Methods: We utilized residential NO2 concentrations modelled by use of chemistry transport models to calculate contributions from emission sources to air pollution. We used exposure-response functions linking NO2 concentration estimates with the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases


Background:
France has high smoking rates, and to address this, it was the second country after Australia to introduce plain packaging (PP) of tobacco products starting January 1st 2017.We examined changes in smoking-related perceptions before (2016) and one year after (2017) the introduction of PP.

Methods:
DePICT is a two waves cross-sectional national telephone survey among residents of Metropolitan France.At each wave, approximately 2000 adolescents (12-17 years) and 4000 adults (18-64 years) were recruited.All participants reported their perceptions of smoking: fear of the health consequences of smoking, perceived harmfulness of tobacco, and whether their friends and family accept smoking.Data were weighted to be representative of the French population, and we calculated prevalence ratios (PR,95%CI) estimating changes between the two study waves controlling for potential confounders with Log-Binomial linear regression models.

Results:
In 2017, as compared with 2016, French adolescents were more likely to report being afraid of the consequences of smoking (PR = 1.06, 1.02-1.10)and that smoking is dangerous (PR = 1.07, 1.04-1.10).They were also less likely to say that their friends (PR = 0.61, 0.54-0.70)and family (PR = 0.51, 0.44-0.60)accept smoking.Among adults, we also observed an increase in the perceived dangerousness of smoking (PR = 1.08, 1.05-1.11)and in the fear of the consequences of smoking (PR = 1.09, 1.06-1.13).However, there were no changes in family and friends' perceptions of smoking.Discussion: One year after the implementation of PP in France, the perception of the harmfulness of smoking has increased in adolescents and adults.Additionally, the social acceptance of smoking has decreased among adolescents.As in Australia, in France plain packaging might contribute to changes in the smoking environment which result in lower levels of tobacco use in the population.

Key messages:
One year after the implementation of Plain Packaging in France, the perception of the harmfulness of smoking has increased in adolescents and adults.Plain packaging might contribute to changes in the smoking environment which result in lower levels of tobacco use in the population in France.Quantification of health impacts in comparable measures like disease burden provides important information to decision makers and enables comparison of risks and helps to prioritize policy actions.

Health impact assessment of traffic-related air pollution in Copenhagen Municipality
Background: High-resolution exposure to traffic-related air pollution can be assessed by modelling levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which together with ultrafine particles mainly originate from dieselpowered vehicles in urban areas.The purpose of the study was to estimate the health benefits of reduced exposure to vehicle emissions assessed as NO2 among the citizens of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark.

Methods:
We utilized residential NO2 concentrations modelled by use of chemistry transport models to calculate contributions from emission sources to air pollution.We used exposure-response functions linking NO2 concentration estimates with the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases derived from a large Danish study.The DYNAMO-HIA model was applied to the population of Copenhagen by using residential NO2 concentrations combined with demographic data and data from nationwide registers on incidence and prevalence of diseases associated with air pollution.Different scenarios were modelled to estimate the impact of NO2 exposure on related diseases and the potential health benefits of lowering the NO2 level in Copenhagen.

Results:
If NO2 exposure was restricted to the rural level life expectancy in 2040 would increase by two years for men and almost a half year for women.The greatest gain in disease-free life expectancy for men would be lifetime without ischemic heart disease (2.2 years), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2.1 years), and asthma (2.3 years).Among women the greatest increase would be lifetime without diabetes (1.2 years) and without stroke (1.1 years).

Conclusions:
Reducing the NO2 exposure by controlling traffic-related air pollution reduces the occurrence of some of the most prevalent diseases and increases life expectancy which can be quantified by DYNAMO-HIA with a high resolution exposure modelling.This tool has demonstrated how traffic planners can assess health benefits from reduced levels of traffic-related air pollution Key messages: Lowering NO2 exposure by reducing traffic-related air pollution would reduce occurrence of cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic diseases, lung cancer, and increase disease-free life expectancy.The full potential of health gain by reducing NO2 exposure level to that of rural areas would increase life expectancy in Copenhagen by two years for men and almost a half year for women.
Does the wind make you feel sick?Influence of malodors and environmental worries on state of health Jasmin Kadel

J Kadel, M Otto
Forschungsverbund Public Heath Sachsen, Dresden, Germany Contact: jasmin.kadel@tu-dresden.de There is an ongoing debate on malodors caused by industry in southwest Saxony.The so-called 'Bo ¨hmischer Wind' is considered to be responsible for adverse health effects although pollutants are below legal limits (Hausmann, 2018).Exposition to malodors can affect the state of health (Dalton 1997), especially under influence of worries (Rethage, 2007).However, understanding the link between malodors and wellbeing is limited, especially as measuring odor is difficult and studies incorporating perspectives of residents are missing (Zscheppang, Schu ¨rmann, Otto, 2016).Therefore, our study aims to analyse associations of odor perception and state of health.
In March 2018 we conducted a quantitative survey within the affected region using a 25% simple random sample.The survey included (1) perception of Bo ¨hmischer Wind (frequency, level of annoyance and belief of health impairment), (2) physical and mental health (recorded via SF-12v1 (Ware et al. 1995)) and (3) environmental worries (measured by a scale by Rethage ( 2007)).People stating Bo ¨hmischer Wind impairs their health, reporting that this incident occurs more often (U = 110184; z = -19,96; p < 0,001; r = -0,48), are more annoyed by malodors (U = 59782, z = -25,34; p < 0,001, r = -0,6) and score higher at general (U = 181364; z = -10,73; p < 0,001, r = -0,26) and odorspecific environmental worries (U = 111682; z = -18,71; p < 0,001, r = -0,45) than people who do not fear health impairment.Moreover, those score lower for physical (U = 131454; z = -9,14; p < 0,001, r = -0,24) and mental health (U = 113379; z = -11,76 p < 0,001, r = -0,31 For radiation exposure, with the four dose groups assigned, the lowest dose group served as reference.Univariate risk estimates were calculated for all independent cardiovascular risk factors with complete information in the database.Prevalence Odds Ratios (ORs) were computed using multifactorial logistic regression modeling.All statistical analyses were conducted with SPSS 17.0 statistical software package Results: Age-adjusted odds ratios for hypertension were found significantly increased in higher exposure groups.After accounting for main cardiovascular risk factors into the model and stratifying by gender, the prevalence odds ratios for radiation remained significantly increased, with a significant dose-response effect.ORs for Body Mass Index (BMI) The sample consists of 2000 participants in screening examinations in three administrative districts close to the nuclear test site, which was carried out as part of government programs on environmental health risks.The cross-sectional study compares prevalence ratios in a population sample with long-term exposure in the low and intermediate dose range.