You Mean that Iceland Volcano Really Isnt a Health Hazard?
Last week some experts played down the World Health Organizations announcement that it was very concerned about the potential health effects of inhaled ash from the Iceland volcano. But we wanted to follow up on that point: can it really be safe to breathe in the same stuff that threatens to destroy jet engines?
Ronald Crystal, chief of pulmonary medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells the Health Blog it’s all in the context. He knows of which he speaks: when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, he was then chief of the pulmonary branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and briefed President Carter on potential health consequences.
There werent a lot of studies specific to volcano eruptions to consult, says Crystal. Instead, he looked at the known impact of inhaling silica. For miners, inhaling silica over many years, at high concentrations, has a definite negative impact: lung diseases including silicosis, also known as pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicavolcanoconiosis (famous for being the longest word in the English language).
Crystal says there werent any data to suggest that Mount St. Helens produced a comparable threat, and widespread evacuations solely to prevent ash inhalation didnt take place. After the fact, the population within breathing range […]
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