ACTA FAC. MED. NAISS. 2005; 22 (2):67-73

   Original article

   AIR POLLUTION AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Dragana Nikić, Aleksandra Stanković
Institute for Public Health Niš

  
    SUMMARY
The development of cardiovascular disease is a result of a chronic and complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Interest in the association between air pollution and health status has been increasingly focused on the relationship between air pollution and cardiopulmonary disease including hypertension, myocardial infarction and other circulatory disorders. There are a small number of publications on the health effects of long-term exposure. Observations related to the adverse health effects of short-term exposure are more numerous. A major challenge to systematic study in this field is the complexity of the particulate components of air pollution. Ambient air particulate matter consist of a mixture of combustive byproducts and resuspended crustal materials, as well as biological materials such as pollen, endotoxins, bacteria and viruses. Inhaled fine particles can be detected within minutes of exposure in the systemic circulation, where they can persist for hours, providing a route of entry into all organ systems. Although epidemiological studies have linked air pollution with cardiopulmonary mortality, underlying biological mechanisms remain largely unknown. Current biologic knowledge suggests direct effects of pollutants on the cardiovascular system, blood, and lung receptors and indirect effects mediated through pulmonary oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. We need new studies focused only to those issue because the quality of the air in our environment has a most essential and direct impact on the health and quality of life.
 

Key words: air pollution, cardiovascular disease, long-term exposure, short-term exposure