In hazy vapours
lurk cloistered harms,
toxic fumes
that choke the skies
with veiled,
unscented threats
of death.
Thieves in the mist
stealing each heart’s beat
with poisons masked and slow –
a silent sentence
in every breathe we take.
Defences creak and sigh
with impotence,
flak jackets made from paper
against a biased,
unrelenting foe.
This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that long-term exposure to air pollution is tied to an increased risk of having a heart attack or dying from heart disease.
Fine particulate air pollution, also known as PM2.5, is a type of air pollution that can harm your heart and increase the risk of health problems. Studies have shown that long-term exposure to PM2.5 for a year or more can lead to heart problems, including heart disease and even death. However, there are still many things we don’t know about PM2.5 pollution. This is because it can be difficult to study heart attacks because medical records are needed to confirm them, and not many studies have been done over long time periods. In the United States there is also still debate about whether the current US National Ambient Air Quality Standard, which allows up to 12 micro grams of PM2.5 pollution per metre cubed of air per year, is enough to protect public health.
In this new study, researchers looked at data from 3.7 million adults living in California to investigate how PM2.5, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and cardiovascular disease mortality. The participants had no prior history of stroke or acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and were followed for up to 10 years. The results of this study showed that an increase of 10 micro grams per metre cubed of PM2.5 over just one year was associated with a 12% increased risk of incident AMI, a 21% increased risk of deaths caused by a reduced blood supply to the heart muscle due to a blockage or narrowing of the coronary arteries, and an 8% increased risk of death brought about by cardiovascular disease. The greatest harms were also found to be impacting under-resourced communities. The study’s findings conclude that the current regulatory standard for PM2.5 may not be sufficiently protective to protect people from the health damage that such pollutants can cause.
