Air pollution may weaken the bones

A study has found that the risk for bone fractures among people over 65 increased steadily as levels of air pollution went up

Air pollution increases the risk for osteoporosis and bone fractures, researchers report. Investigators analysed data from two studies. The first tracked hospital admissions among 9.2 million Medicare recipients in the Northeast over eight years. The second looked at levels of parathyroid hormone, which aids bone health, in 692 middle-aged low-income men in Boston.
 
The study, in Lancet Planetary Health, found that the risk for bone fractures among people over 65 increased steadily as levels of air pollution — specifically, particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, or PM 2.5 — went up. Rates were almost 5 per cent higher in