Air Pollution May Prompt Acute Cardiac Distress

Previous studies have suggested that cardiovascular-related deaths increase with exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution.  Robert A. Silverman, from Long Island Jewish Medical Center (New York, USA), and colleagues find that such particles may increase the risk for sudden cardiac arrest.  The researchers assessed data collected on 8,216 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occurred in a four-year period in the New York City area, correlating that information with measurements of levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide as provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The team found that for a 10ug/m3 rise in small particle air pollution, there was a four-to-10 percent increase in the number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, with the effect more pronounced during summer months.  Writing that:  “These findings, consistent with studies implicating acute cardiovascular effects of [particulate matter], support a link between [particulate matter] and out-of-hospital cardiac arrests,” the researchers urge that: “Since few individuals survive an arrest, air pollution control may help prevent future cardiovascular mortality.”