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Ambient Air Quality and Cardiovascular Health: Translation of Environmental Research for Public Health and Clinical Care
Citation:
Cascio, W. AND T. Long. Ambient Air Quality and Cardiovascular Health: Translation of Environmental Research for Public Health and Clinical Care. NORTH CAROLINA MEDICAL JOURNAL. North Carolina Institute of Medicine, Durham, NC, 79(5):306-312, (2018).
Impact/Purpose:
This article is an invited commentary from the North Carolina Medical Journal on the effects of air pollution on the heart. The commentary is to be included in the September/October issue, which will focus on environmental health, and will be edited by Dr. Kim Lyerly of Duke University and Dr. David Peden of UNC-Chapel Hill. The purpose of the article is to emphasize the link between air pollution and cardiovascular health and present strategies for improving population health through the translation of environmental health research into public health and clinical action.
Description:
Air pollution is intuitively associated with respiratory effects, but evidence has emerged over the past few decades that air pollution-related cardiovascular effects can be much more adverse and even lead to premature mortality. In 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (particulate matter with mean diameter less than 2.5 µm, or PM2.5) based in part on evidence showing increased hospitalizations and other adverse outcomes for cardiovascular disease. Other air pollutants may also contribute to cardiovascular effects, but the evidence is clearest for particulate matter, especially PM2.5. In this article, we present background on the sources, exposures, and health effects of air pollution and discuss the potential for intervention strategies the health care system to help reduce individual and population exposure and the attendant risk from air pollution-related cardiovascular effects.
URLs/Downloads:
http://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/content/79/5/306.full?sid=3cc15528-a194-43b9-b53f-e7a25946d6af