COUNTRIESacrossthe worldmust
urgently adopt emissions controls
andair monitoringsystemsfor the
worstpollutantsif theyare to grapple
with the growingproblemof air pollu-
tion causingmillionsof deathseach
year,five nationalacademies have
saidin a globalcall for action.The
Academiesof Sciencesand Medicine
fromSouthAfrica,Brazil,Germany,
and the UnitedStatesissueda joint
statement,whichtheypresentedat
the UnitedNationsHeadquartersin
NewYork,callingfor intensified fund-
ing andactionundera newglobal
compactto tackleair pollution.
Air pollutioncausessomeseven
millionprematuredeathseveryyear
and has alsobeenlinkedto climate
change.If we wereto reduceshort-
livedpollutants,suchas methaneand
blackcarbon,we couldreduceglobal
warmingby up to 0.5°Coverthe next
few decades,simultaneouslyavoiding
2.4 millionprematuredeaths, the re-
leasesaid.Accordingto the academies,the
biggestcontributorsto air pollution
are fossilfuel and biomasscombus-
tion usedfor powergeneration, cook-
ing, transport andagriculture. Air
pollutionfromfossilfuelsis particu-
larlyadverseforhumansasitcontains
largeamountsof particulate matter,
whichenterthe bodyand damageits
organs. With the global economic
costsof diseasecausedby air pollu-
tion across176 countriesin 2015es-timated to be $138 million, the
academiescallfor thispreventable
problemto be addressedin tandem
withclimatechangemitigationand
sustainabledevelopment.
The academiesnotethatexisting
internationalagreements, including
the MontrealProtocol,the U.N.Con-
ventionon Long-rangeTransbound-
ary Air Pollution, and the WorldHealth
AssemblyResolution on Air Pollution
addressdifferentaspectsof air pollu-
tion,but noneincludesa comprehens-
ive planfor air pollutioncontrol.The
academiesrecommendthat all coun-
triesmakeair pollutionreductiona
priorityby placingemissioncontrols
on industry and embracing clean
fuels.The academiesthereforepro-
posethe adoptionof a newGlobal
Compacton Air Pollutionand Health.
TheCompact wouldrecognisethe
rightto cleanair, ensuresustained
engagementto tackleair pollutionat
the highestlevel,and makepollution
controla priorityin all development
strategiesandallbusinessplanningin
everycity and country.THEREwas no substantivedifference
betweenthe rangeof spermcharac-
teristicsobservedin frozensperm
samplesexposedto microgravityand
in thosemaintainedin groundcondi-
tions,accordingto a studyreportedat
the 35th Annual Meeting of the
EuropeanSocietyof HumanRepro-
ductionandEmbryology.Thestudy
was carriedout by MontserratBoada
of DexeusWomen’sHealthin Bar-
celona,Spain,and associates.Micro-
gravity engineers from the
PolytechnicUniversityof Barcelona
wereassociatedwithstudy.
This,the studysaid,openedthe
possibilityof safelytransportingmale
gametesto spaceand of creatinga
humanspermbankoutsidethe earth.
Whilethe effectsof microgravity
on the cardiovascular, musculo-
skeletaland centralnervoussystems
are well known and tested in space
flight,MontserratBoadapointedout
that relativelylittlewas knownabout
the effectsof differentgravitational
environments on humanspermand
eggs.“Somestudiessuggest a signi-
ficantdecreasein the motilityof hu-
manfreshspermsamples,”she said,
“butnothinghas beenreportedon the
possible effects of gravitationaldiffer-
enceson frozenhumangametes,in
whichstatethey wouldbe transported
to space.”
The studywas performedusinga
small aerobatic training aircraft
(CAP10),whichcan provideshort-dur-
ationhypogravityexposure,totalling
160 secondsof microgravity.Overall,
10 spermsamplesobtainedfrom 10
healthydonorswereanalysed after
exposureto the differentmicrogravit-
ies foundin spaceand groundgravity.
The spermanalysiscomprisedthe full
range of measurements currentlyperformedfor fertilitytesting.Accord-
ing to MontserratBoada,therewas
100 per centconcordancein the DNA
fragmentation rate and vitality,and 90
per centconcordancein spermcon-
centrationand motility.Theseminor
differences,she added,“weremore
probablyrelatedto heterogeneity of
the spermsamplethanto the effectof
exposureto differentgravitycondi-
tions.”Thispreliminarystudywill be
followedup withvalidatingthe results
andthenmoveon to largersperm
samples,longerperiodsof micrograv-
ity and evenfreshsperm,she said.
MontserratBoadaobservedthat
one reasonfor usingfrozenspermin
thisstudywasthe knowneffectof radi-
ationon freshsperm.“Radiationim-
pairsthe qualityand viabilityof human
sperm,”she said,“andtheseeffects
are expectedto be greateron fresh
spermthanon frozensamples,which
arecryopreservedin special cryo-
strawsand transportedin cryotanks.”Humanspermviablein space
ADELHIPOLICETraffic
Constablewearinga face maskon
asmoggyday in February.R.V.MOORTHYGlobalcalltotackleairpollution