Studio event highlights the ongoing fight for clean air
Breathing Easier Studio event highlights the ongoing fight for cleaner air, and the groundbreaking public health research from Harvard that has led the way
Fifty years ago, researchers at Harvard set out to measure the health effects of air pollution in six cities across the U.S. — Harriman, Tennessee; Portage, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; Steubenville, Ohio; Topeka, Kansas; and Watertown, Massachusetts. The results were dramatic, with the most polluted towns showing significant differences in mortality and life expectancy.
The differences we found in life expectancy—two to three years shorter—were remarkable,” explained Doug Dockery, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Emeritus, and lead author of the study’s landmark paper published in 1993. “Those are big numbers in terms of population life expectancy.
These findings had huge implications for public health and policy, including putting the concept of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) on the radar of U.S. regulators. But it hasn’t been a simple or straightforward path to stronger clean air regulations.
In, Particles of Truth, a new book by Doug Dockery and C. Arden Pope — a Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University, who joined the study team when he was a young visiting scholar at Harvard — the pair look at the history of the fight for cleaner air, including the pitfalls and speedbumps along the way.
Both authors participated in a Harvard Chan Studio panel earlier this month to discuss the book, as well as the importance of research on air pollution and health impacts.
Breathing easier: The pursuit of clean air, brought together experts in clinical care and environmental health to discuss the threat of air pollution and explore solutions. Participants on the panel included Amruta Nori-Sarma, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health and Population Science; and Mary Rice, Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Respiratory Health, and director of the Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE). The conversation was moderated by Kari Nadeau, John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies and chair of the Department of Environmental Health.
Watch the panel here:
Following the Studio panel, the school hosted a book signing for Doug Dockery, where many students waited in line to have their copies of “Particles of Truth” signed, and snag a photo with the emeritus professor.
