Even moderate air pollution routinely found in many U.S. cities may trigger sudden deaths by changing heart rhythms in people with existing cardiac problems, according to extensive new scientific research. The finding, backed by more than a dozen studies on humans and animals, suggests that heart attacks, not lung disease, may be the most serious medical threat posed by air pollution. The culprits appear to be tiny pieces of soot called particulates.
More research is underway.
But the emerging evidence could have particular importance for the Los Angeles region, where residents breathe some of the worst concentrations of ultra-fine particulates in the nation, largely because of diesel trucks. Severe particulate pollution also exists in many other urban and desert areas, including the Coachella Valley, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, Salt Lake City and Phoenix, which in 1998 surpassed Riverside for the nation's highest particulate levels. Research continues to show that air pollution can cause serious lung problems. But as an overall threat to public health, the danger to the heart appears to be more weighty because of the sheer numbers of people with heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States, responsible for nearly half of all deaths.