Getting the full picture on air pollution and lung health

What do we mean by air pollution? 

Air pollution is anything that makes the air more toxic and damaging to our health.  

Air pollution can affect all parts of our bodies, including the health of our lungs, heart, and brain. 

What’s the link between air pollution and asthma? 

Air pollution can make asthma symptoms worse and trigger asthma attacks, especially in people with severe asthma that do not respond well to standard treatments. That’s why the true effect of air pollution on how we breatheave is an area that needs much more research. 

Air pollution is also complicated – made up of many different particles and chemicals – making it difficult to understand exactly which components are harmful and how they affect the lungs.  

What we do know is that air pollution can have a negative effect across all lung conditions. 

There’s also an interesting link between low vitamin D levels and poor lung health – one which researchers are still working to understand and unpick. 

However, it’s unclear whether vitamin D can help protect against the harmful effects of air pollution. That’s where our research comes in. 

Establishing the connection between air pollution particles and our lungs 

This incredible research project has informed how we analyse the threats to our health that arise from air pollution and shape how we respond to it – with research into vitamin D and lung health still underway. 

A research project, funded by Asthma + Lung UK, investigated how different types of air pollution affect immune cells involved in asthma.   

Researchers collected real-world pollution samples from urban and rural locations across the UK and analysed their chemical composition.   

Then, in a lab, they exposed samples of immune system cell specimens to the pollution and monitored their response.   

The study found that air pollution particles trigger inflammation in the lungs which makes it harder to breathe. For people already living a lung condition, like asthma, this can make it even harder to keep breathing and keep lungs healthy.  

The research team also investigated whether Vitamin D could dampen the effect of pollution on inflammation – and the results were promising, suggesting that it could.  

This incredible research project has informed how we analyse the threats that arise from air pollution and shape how we respond to it – with research into vitamin D and lung health continuing to this day.   

And it was Asthma + Lung UK supporters that helped to make it all happen.