Dirty Air Leading To Increased Heart Attacks

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Doctors found that when the air is full of certain types of pollution, there were an increase in heart attacks.

Story Published: Jul 24, 2001 at 8:23 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 30, 2006 at 11:38 PM PDT

Dirty Air Leading To Increased Heart Attacks
TORONTO - Cleaning the air has never been more urgent, especially with hot weather here for the summer.

We've known for years pollution is hard on the respiratory system. Now a new study concludes it can trigger heart attacks, sometimes within hours.

Dr. Murray Middleman and a team of researchers in Boston interviewed nearly 800 heart attack survivors. They then matched the start of their attack with levels of air pollution, in particular, tiny particles of metals and dust called pm 2.5.

They're usually invisible, except on smoggy days when they turn the air a murky brown. What the scientists found is that when the particles are at their highest levels, it almost doubled the risk of a heart attack.

"The increase risk of heart attacks appeared as early as two hours after a spike in levels of these fine particles in the air," Dr. Middleman said.

The particles come from the trappings of urban life, diesel engines, from coal burning power plants, and from the ever present car.

'We Need To Get Ahead Of The Curve'

The particles are so small, they carry bits of metals and toxins deep into the lung, causing not just asthma attacks, but also changes in how the heart works making blood more sticky and boosting blood pressure.

"And so all of these put together, when you are on the edge of having a heart attack, those may be enough factors to push you over the edge," said Dr. Trevor Hancock of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Canada will start regulating levels of these tiniest particles starting next year. This research shows that even lower levels are linked to triggering these heart attacks, which means Canada's new standards will be obsolete even before they're implemented.

"This is the kind of evidence that will be very provocative in terms of pushing the agenda forward in reducing emissions," said Mark Raizenne of Health Canada.

Dr. Hancock agrees. "We need to get ahead of the curve instead of constantly being behind the curve because people's lives are at risk," he said.

And that will mean cutting down on Canadian and American emissions that produce these particles, now clearly a public health issue, that appears to go straight to the heart.