In-Car Air Pollution May Raise Health Risks

Dirty air inside cars may be especially hazardous to people with health problems.

Spending a lot of time in your car may put your heart’s health at risk. A new study shows that prolonged exposure to dirty air inside vehicles could trigger potentially dangerous changes in heart function.
Prior studies have shown that exposure to fine airborne particulate matter is associated with cardiovascular events and mortality in older and cardiac patients. But now, researchers say air pollution levels inside cars which are generally lower than outside, may also increase the risk of heart attack or stroke in people with existing health problems by changing the way the heart functions.
The study showed that exposure to in-car air pollution caused changes, such as increased markers of inflammation and increased blood clotting proteins, variations in heart rate, and other changes in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, in nine healthy state highway patrol troopers who worked in their cars.
In a study, which appears in the April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers equipped each of the North Caroline State Highway Patrol cars with air quality monitors. Overall, researchers say that the troopers were in excellent health and appeared to be at low risk for heart or other health problems. But they found prolonged exposure to air pollution inside the troopers’ vehicles prompted changes in the heart rate that could be hazardous in less healthy individuals.
Researchers say those changes do not seem desirable and show that exposure to in-car pollutants “should be minimized”.

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