Oranges, sardines and eggs could help protect people exposed to air pollution, Ghana study finds

For people who spend long hours beside busy roads, breathing polluted air is often part of the job. Street vendors, traffic officers, market traders, construction workers and other outdoor workers can spend hours each day exposed to exhaust fumes and other pollutants. Now, a new Ghanaian study suggests that what they eat could help their bodies cope with some of the damage caused by polluted air.

The Dietary Intervention to Mitigate Air Pollution health effects among street hawkers and vendors in Accra (DIMAP) study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cape Coast, followed 307 street vendors in Accra for 12 months. The study was led by Professor Kofi Amegah, an Associate Professor of Environmental and Nutritional Epidemiology at the University of Cape Coast. One group of vendors received a weekly supply of foods including oranges, peanuts, sunflower oil, eggs and sardines, while another group continued with their usual diets.

The vendors worked along some of Accra’s busiest roads, including Atomic Junction, Madina, Lapaz, Tetteh Quarshie, Kaneshie, Graphic Road, Makola and Kwame Nkrumah Circle. These are areas where thousands of vehicles pass every day, exposing people who work there to pollution for long periods. Amegah says this prolonged exposure is what prompted the research.

“And then they are exposed to a high level of a dangerous cocktail of pollutants for very long hours. So it’s important that we protect their health. And that is the main reason why we conducted this experimental study to look at the effectiveness of nutrition intervention for mitigating or attenuating the health effects among the street vendors.” Air quality monitors used during the study recorded average PM2.5 levels of about 40 micrograms per cubic metre along the study routes.

PM2.5 is made up of extremely small particles in the air. They are so tiny that they can travel deep into the lungs and, in some cases, enter the bloodstream. Long-term exposure can increase the risk of heart and lung diseases, stroke and other serious health problems.

The World Health Organization recommends that the 24-hour average level of PM2.5 should not exceed 15 micrograms per cubic metre. After following the vendors for a year, researchers found that those who regularly ate the antioxidant-rich foods reported fewer symptoms associated with air pollution.