Is the Air You Breathe Deadly? |
Digital Vision
Long-term exposure to everyday pollutants might cause premature hardening of the arteries – a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke – a perspective cohort study of more than 5,000 people across six American cities finds. The results, which highlight the idea that dangers from air pollution aren't limited to the bodies' airways, are published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
Not surprisingly, those living in major metropolitan areas face the greatest risk from the microscopic bits of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols filling the air, even if they show no other signs of heart disease.
The people in the most-polluted neighborhoods in the cities studied had a two-percent higher stroke risk than those living in less-polluted areas of the same city, researchers found, thanks to a faster rate of heart damage.
American air quality as a whole has been steadily improving since 1980, extending the average life expectancy for city dwellers by an average of 5 months, according to the American Lung Association. Still, half of Americans breathe air that’s dirty enough to permanently damage their heart and lungs every day.
Wondering how your city’s air quality stacks up? Take a look at the U.S. cities with the highest rates of year-round particle pollution, as previously ranked by the ALA. The cities here are listed in order from better to worse:
