Pollution health risks investigated

Tiny airborne particles make up much air pollution

A major survey is being carried out to investigate whether air pollution causes heart attacks.

The research into how pollutants such as carbon particles and sulphur dioxide harm people's cardiovascular health is being funded by the British Heart Foundation.

It comes amid growing medical evidence that the number of people being admitted to hospital with cardiac disease is directly linked to daily changes in levels of air pollution.

Department of Health research suggests that in London, one in 50 heart attacks treated at its local hospitals are triggered by air pollution.

Several decades ago, air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide in smog caused the deaths of thousands of people and were the scourge of cities such as London and Birmingham.

Pollution sources

Although the sources of pollution today are different, there is evidence that substances such as carbon particles are still affecting people's hearts.

In the new survey, scientists from the University of Birmingham will use cutting-edge equipment to study the effects of different pollutants on the cardio vascular system.

Lead researcher Professor Jon Ayres said: "We already know there is a possible link between high levels of air pollution and death from coronary heart disease.

Air pollution is a serious health hazard

"We are all exposed to air pollutants which can affect those individuals with heart disease who are particularly susceptible to certain components of the air we breathe."

Researchers believe that the body may respond to damage from inhaled pollutants by affecting the nervous system's control over the rhythm of the heart and perhaps by causing inflammation in the coronary arteries.

Related studies

The link reinforces findings by a committee of scientists, commissioned by the Department of Health (DoH).

The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) said re-evaluation of long-term studies in the United States backed up its view that there was a causal link between fine particles in the air and shorter life expectancy.

Professor Robert Maynard, head of the Department of Health's Air Pollution Unit. said: "The shortening of life expectancy is as a result of increasing the risk of diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

"Those people who live in cleaner environments are at lower risk, so reducing levels of particles will reduce people's risk of these diseases."

Coronary heart disease is the UK's biggest killer, with 135,000 people dying from a heart attack every year.

The two-and-a-half year Birmingham study is being funded by a £182,000 grant from the British Heart Foundation.