Does Air Pollution Affect Your Heart?
You’re like most people if you think you’re doing everything you can to maintain
your heart health as long as you stay at a healthy weight, eat well, exercise
regularly, take medications your doctor has prescribed for you and take steps to
control stress. But there’s actually something else that can affect your heart,
and it’s difficult to avoid—air pollution.
Recently, experts from the American Heart Association (AHA) conducted a
comprehensive review of the effects of air pollution on cardiovascular disease.
The results were published in a scientific statement in the 8 July issue of
Circulation. The general findings indicate that air pollution, even air that
falls within current acceptable readings, does pose a risk for people who
already have cardiovascular disease.
Who’s most at risk?
The American Heart Association panel that provided the recommendations about air
pollution determined that the following factors put people at higher risk:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Risk factors for cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure; high blood
fat levels, such as cholesterol and triglycerides; overweight; inactive
- Lung disease
The panel recommends that people with these risk factors limit outdoor
activities when air pollution is in the higher levels. One way to determine
whether the pollution is high is to check the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Air Quality Index recommendations
If you’re interested in checking daily information about air pollution near you,
visit the Environmental Protection Association www.epa.gov/airnow . You can find
out about ozone and particulate matter there for 150 U.S. cities.
What type of air pollution is most dangerous?
The AHA found that the following air pollutants are especially harmful:
- Carbon monoxide
- Oxides of nitrogen
- Sulfur dioxide
- Particulate matter (PM), which comes from such sources as car emissions,
tire fragments, road dust, metal processing, pollens, molds and forest fires
Additional findings included:
- Long-term exposure to PM can reduce life expectancy by several years
- Short-term exposure to PM increases the risk of death due to a
- When concentrations of PM are highest, hospital admissions for
cardiovascular and lung conditions increase
Another point to remember is that tobacco smoke is also an air pollutant.
Studies have shown that being exposed to the second-hand smoke of just one
cigarette per day can speed the process of hardening of the arteries. The AHA
panel believes there’s reason to think that outdoor air pollution could have the
American Heart Association; Circulation, 8 June 2004.