Studies have found that even low levels of air pollution can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease

"Our findings show that current air quality guidelines do not provide adequate protection," said Petter Ljungman, associate professor at the Karolinska Institute Institute of Environmental Medicine and the last co-author of the paper.

.

This study is a major European collaborative study involving more than 137,000 participants from six different cohorts from Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, with an average follow-up time of 17 years
.
Researchers investigated whether there is a link between stroke or acute coronary heart disease and long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.

"We found that in the place where you live, an increase of 5 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particles in the air increases the risk of stroke by 10%.

Annette Peters, director of the Helmholtz Zentrum München Institute of Epidemiology Said, "Our research shows that even after adjusting for noise, air pollution in urban areas still increases the risk of stroke
.
"She led the research in Germany

The researchers also linked nitrogen dioxide and carbon black to an increased risk of stroke
.
Only nitrogen dioxide is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease; an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of nitrogen dioxide in the air increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 4%

Researchers were unable to detect any safety threshold, and air pollution levels below this threshold are not harmful to cardiovascular health
.
When the analysis was limited to participants below the level set by WHO and the EU (PM2 was 10 and 25 µg/m3, respectively, NO2 was 5 and 40 µg/m3, respectively), fine particulate matter and dioxide were also seen The adverse effects of nitrogen

Peter Ljungman said: "This is worrying and has a major impact on how we should actively strive for good air quality to prevent common and serious diseases
.
"

The World Health Organization will soon announce new air quality guidelines
.

The study was conducted in close collaboration with the German Helmholtz Center München, and Catherine Wolf and Annette Peters led the combined analysis based on their expertise in prospective cohorts, statistical analysis, and air pollution epidemiology
.
The Swedish research team is composed of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the Swedish Health, Working Life and Welfare Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, the Heart and Lung Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Stockholm Region, the Swedish Diabetes Association and Scandinavia Funded by Novo Nordisk

Journal Reference :

1. Kathrin Wolf, Barbara Hoffmann, Zorana J Andersen, Richard W Atkinson, Mariska Bauwelinck, Tom Bellander, Jørgen Brandt, Bert Brunekreef, Giulia Cesaroni, Jie Chen, Ulf de Faire, Kees de Hoogh, Daniela Fecht, Francesco Forastiere, John Gulliver , Ole Hertel, Ulla Arthur Hvidtfeldt, Nicole AH Janssen, Jeanette T Jørgensen, Klea Katsouyanni, Matthias Ketzel, Jochem O Klompmaker, Anton Lager, Shuo Liu, Conor J MacDonald, Patrik KE Magnusson, Amar J Mehta, Gabrie Nata, Gabrie Oftedal, Nancy L Pedersen, Göran Pershagen, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Matteo Renzi, Debora Rizzuto, Sophia Rodopoulou, Evangelia Samoli, Yvonne T van der Schouw, Sara Schramm, Per Schwarze, Torben Sigsgaard, Mette Sø Massrengia Sø , Maciek Strak, Anne Tjønneland, WM Monique Verschuren, Danielle Vienneau,Gudrun Weinmayr, Gerard Hoek, Annette Peters, Petter LS Ljungman.
   Long-term exposure to low-level ambient air pollution and incidence of stroke and coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of six European cohorts within the ELAPSE project .

   
   The Lancet Planetary Health , 2021; 5 (9): e620 DOI: 10.