PRBB research: a cleaner air improves lung function

The exposition to pollution from diesel vehicles makes people with asthma worsen and the lung capacity of the general population decrease at a faster rate. These are the conclusions of two international studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which Nino Kunzli and Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, from CREAL and IMIM-Hospital del Mar, have participated.

The first study analyses 4,742 Swiss people during 10 years and shows for the first time in adults that the improvement in the air quality slows down the lung function ageing. Kunzli says: “we knew that the lung function degradation in smokers is slowed down when they quit. Now we know that ‘quitting’ pollution has the same result”.

The second article studies the decrease in the lung function in 60 adults with asthma after walking for 2h on Oxford Street, full of buses and diesel vehicles, which liberate 100 times more particles than petrol motors. The study demonstrates empirically for the first time that even short exposures to diesel reduce lung function, worsen asthma symptoms and increase lung inflammation. According to Nieuwenhuijsen, “with 2.5 millions of asthmatics in Spain, where 30% of vehicles are diesel, it is important to know the risks of the exposition to this pollutant”.

Art and science go hand by hand

During the evenings, when it gets dark, a surprising phenomenon occurs at the inner square of the PRBB: the back wall of the conference hall becomes a big screen in which audiovisuals are exhibited. The show can be watched from the square or from the balconies.

As a result of the collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona Barcelona (CCCB), a cycle of projections starts this December. “Cultural reflections at the PRBB” is an open window to the art and culture, which allows us to enjoy CCCB productions of very diverse contents. The cycle starts with “The century of cinema”, homage to ‘the seventh art’ in commemoration of its 100th anniversary. For each new projection, there will be a presentation by the author or an expert, and a glass of cava will be offered to the assistants.

Alternating with the “Cultural reflections”, there will be also the projection of the series “One month, one artist”, a cycle that the CCCB dedicates to an audiovisual creator each month. From the PRBB we will also be able to enjoy this other initiative and to watch the work of authors with an interest to experiment and innovate with new formal and thematic languages.