Living near freeways may increase heart disease risk

Study of LA residents

Vilas Bhuchar, Feb 15, 10.

Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away, according to a study covered in the Los Angeles Times’ Greenspace blog.

The study was conducted by researchers from USC and UC Berkeley, joined by colleagues in Spain and Switzerland, and was published last week in the journal PLoS ONE, the story said.

Furthermore, “researchers used ultrasound to measure the wall thickness of the carotid artery in 1,483 people who lived within 100 meters, or 328 feet, of Los Angeles freeways,” and found the following, according to the story:

Taking measurements every six months for three years, they correlated their findings with levels of outdoor particulates—the toxic dust that spews from tailpipes—at the residents’ homes. They found that artery wall thickness accelerated annually by 5.5 micrometers — one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair — or more than twice the average progression in study participants.

UC Berkeley co-author Michael Jerrett, quoted in the story, noted that controlling traffic pollution may help reduce heart disease risk:

“For the first time, we have shown that air pollution contributes to the early formation of heart disease, known as atherosclerosis, which is connected to nearly half the deaths in Western societies…. By controlling air pollution from traffic, we may see much larger benefits to public health than we previously thought.”

Finally, the Obama administration is proposing tighter standards for two vehicle-related pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone, the story said.

Full story

Full study: Ambient Air Pollution and the Progression of Atherosclerosis in Adults

(Photo credit: Atwater Village Newbie)