Care about air: Pollution exposure may boost death risk from heart disease

Researchers considered the levels of air pollution in states and cities using data from the EPA, and compared them with health statistics from each of the locations. They found that even minuscule increases in the amount of these particles (by 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, for example) lead to an overall increased risk of death from all causes by 3 percent – and roughly a 10 percent increase in risk of death due to heart disease.

More than 3 million people a year are killed prematurely by outdoor air pollution, according to a landmark new study, more than malaria and HIV/Aids combined.

“People who otherwise wouldn’t have died younger are dying younger because of particle matter pollution in the air”, says Sumita Khatri, MD, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Asthma Center.

“Our knowledge add to a rising physique of proof that particulate matter is basically unsafe to well being, growing general mortality, principally deaths from heart problems, in addition to deaths from respiratory illness in nonsmokers”, stated George Thurston, a professor of inhabitants well being and environmental drugs at NYU Langone, in a press launch.

The type of pollution they singled out, according to Thurston, includes harmful chemicals such as arsenic, selenium, and mercury, and it has the ability to transport other pollutants like sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the lungs, due to their gaseous nature.

Researchers used in-depth data sets provided by the National Institutes of Health and the American Associations of Retired Persons.

The United States, with 54,905 deaths in 2010 from soot and smog, ranks seventh highest for air pollution deaths. The global mortality linked to air pollution is strongly influenced by these high numbers in Asia, says the study published in the September 17 issue of Nature.

People burn all sorts of things in these stoves – wood, coal, compressed peat moss, and even animal dung – and the smoke that billows out can do serious harm to the human body both indoors and outdoors, said Michael Jerrett, chair of environmental health sciences in the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles.

These deaths are in addition to the estimated 3.54 million deaths per year associated with indoor air pollution, mainly through the use of solid fuel for cooking and heating in non-industrialised countries.

Examining the specific emission source of the pollutants was an important aspect of this study, researchers said.

Scientists predict that premature mortality from air pollution could double by 2050 with a death toll of 6.6 million lives per year.

The study authors plan to continue their research, investigating which components of particulate matter are most toxic.

Individuals dwelling in states with the strictest laws on air pollution have been simply as prone to the consequences of particulate matter as these with worse air pollution, displaying the general results of the chemical compounds themselves.

“Testing for the effects of air pollution emissions in different parts of the world was a very challenging task”, Lelieveld said, “especially in many developing countries, where air quality monitoring systems are minimal”.

The chief causes of deaths from particulate pollution exposure are stroke and heart disease.

In the U.S., traffic pollution made the biggest contribution to global death rates while in Europe, Russian Federation and eastern Asia, agricultural sources had the greatest impact.