The effect on your heart and killer cars
The effect on your heart
Scientists are now learning how fine particle pollutants trigger heart attacks and strokes. "If you inhale lots of particles, specialized cells in your lungs call for help and make inflammatory chemicals that get into the bloodstream and react on the surface of blood vessels. If that happens, blood vessels have more leaks and cholesterol penetrates into blood vessels and builds up in the blood vessel wall," leading to hardening of the arteries, explains Dr. Stephan van Eeden, a respirologist in Vancouver.
Other studies have shown that the inflammatory response to particle pollution sends chemicals into the bloodstream that may increase clotting, disrupt heart rhythm, increase the heart rate and raise blood pressure.
Killer cars
Living close to heavy traffic can be lethal. A 2004 McMaster University study found that people in Hamilton who lived within 50 metres of a major highway or 100 metres of a congested city road died 2.5 years earlier than those who didn't.
Pollution from traffic may also trigger the onset of childhood asthma. A 2007 study by Michael Brauer, an epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, found that young children in the Netherlands living close to busy road had a 20 to 30 per cent increased risk of developing asthma. Brauer and his team measured children's exposure to nitrogen dioxide, fine particles and soot from diesel emissions. He followed the children from the second trimester of their mother's pregnancy to the age of four. "The study shows the importance of reducing exposure levels in early infancy and even during pregnancy," he says.
Although smoking is the leading cause of COPD, exhaust from cars and trucks can permanently damage lung tissue and cause nonsmokers to develop this chronic, incurable condition. A 2005 German study found that women who lived close to busy roads and had long-term exposure to pollution were more likely to develop COPD. "Women tend to develop more COPD from air pollution than men," says Dr. Stephan van Eeden, a respirologist in Vancouver.
Click to continue to discover how pollutants harm our children's health before they're born…
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