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Air Pollution Poses Heart Risk to Postmenopausal Women
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Each increase of 10 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter was associated with a 24 percent increase in the risk of a cardiovascular event and a 76 percent increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Women having a higher long-term average exposure had a higher risk. And different health risks within cities were often larger than those between cities.
Scientists aren't sure how fine particulate air pollution increases these health risks, although it's possible that inhaling the particles may be speeding the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
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An accompanying editorial in the journal called for better long-term environmental standards.
"The EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] did tighten 24-hour standards but failed to listen to its scientific advisers on long-term standards. They could be tightened," Horovitz said.
Kaufman added: "This is not a study that necessarily spells individual-level health decisions. It's not like we can say people should move. We really need to work harder to lower these levels, and we need to think about pollution as a risk factor, like smoking and diabetes and cholesterol. We need to think of pollution as a cause of health effects now and not just a nuisance factor and something that causes haze on the horizon."
More information
Daily pollution readings for more than 150 cities are provided by the EPA.
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Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 1/31/2007
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SOURCES: Joel D. Kaufman, M.D., professor of environmental and occupational medicine and epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle; Len Horovitz, M.D., pulmonary specialist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Feb. 1, 2007, New England Journal of Medicine
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