Heart Problems Caused By Air Pollution

Based on a survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine, breathing air in heavily polluted cities raises the risk of heart attack or stroke at about the same rate as does cigarette smoking.

In one study, older women living in the most polluted cities had about a 150% increased risk of death from heart attack or stroke, relative to those living in cities with unpolluted air.

The danger arose from a type of soot that is generated by burning fossil fuels.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Riverside, California were reportedly among the U.S. cities with the highest soot levels.

Each increase of fine soot levels by 10 micrograms per cubic meter is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death of about 76%. Nationally, tens of thousands of people die annually from exposure to fossil fuel-based air pollution.

Source: Increased Heart Risk Linked To Air Pollution, by Keith J. Winstein, Wall Street Journal, 1 February 2007, U.S. EPA.

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