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Car fumes could cause heart disease
A team from Edinburgh University has carried out research into the impact on health of ultra-fine particles of pollution.
Professor Bill MacNee, a member of the respiratory medicine department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, said preliminary findings suggested such particles - known as particulates - could cause inflammation of the lungs.
He said: "The hypothesis is when you make particles very small, you make them extremely reactive and they produce damaging substances called oxidants which cause inflammation in the lungs.
"Strangely that inflammation, albeit small in the lungs, we believe can produce a change in the ability of blood to clot and therefore a link with heart attacks and strokes."
Thousands of deaths
Professor MacNee said the inflammation could be responsible for 8,000 deaths a year in urban areas in Britain.
He said most people would experience the same reaction, but it would be fatal only in those with a heightened sensitivity.
The particles that cause the inflammation are known as PM10 particulates because they are less than ten millionths of a metre in size.
They are most commonly produced by motor vehicles, particularly those that use diesel fuel, but also by industrial processes, and even by natural erosion.
They can stay in the atmosphere for a long period, and can penetrate buildings.
Lungs cannot deal with tiny particles
Professor MacNee said: "Coal miners can inhale lots of larger dust particles and come to any harm unless they breath an awful lot of it over a long period of time.
"But it appears the lung cannot cope with handling lots of very small particules."
Professor MacNee said the full effects of air pollution on health were yet to be identified.
But he said that increased hospital admissions and greater use of drugs for coronary obstructive pulmonary disorders indicated that there was a significant problem.
He said: "Physicians have got to start to realise this could be a problem. It is a relatively small problem but it could escalate if we do not take measures quite quickly."
Professor MacNee's team has been given a £300,000 grant by the Medical Research Council to continue its investigation.