密歇根新闻广播 为什么微粒子污染会增加老年人死亡风险

 

Long-term exposure to certain kinds of air pollution increases the risk of premature¹ death in Americans over 65 years old. That finding holds true even at levels of air pollution below national standards.

That’s according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Francesca Dominici is the study's principal investigator², and a professor of biostatistics at Harvard.

She and her team examined Medicare claims records for 60 million Americans over a seven year period. They focused on ozone³ and fine particulate⁴ matter (tiny particles of pollution that we can inhale).

“One of the important aspects of this study was to collect and link an enormous amount of very granular data on exposure to pollution which we were able to assess up to the zip code of residents of almost every U.S. citizen older than 65," she says.

Dominici says they compared that information with socio-economic status, health history and behavioral risk factors.

She says particulate matter can penetrate⁵ deep into the lungs and cause inflammation, and lead to cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Dominici says they found some people are more susceptible⁶ to health problems from air pollution than others.

“People that have lower income, African American[s] and also male[s] have a much higher risk of that; specifically among African Americans, which was pretty surprising to us. We found that the risk was three times higher than the general population,” she says.

1 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

2 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

3 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

4 particulate   

adj.微小的；n.微粒，粒子

参考例句：

• A special group was organized to dig up the particulate of the case.成立了一个专门小组来查明该案件的各个细节。
• Lungs retain relatively insoluble particulate material.肺脏内留有不溶解的颗粒物质。

5 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

6 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。