Environmental Toxins May Boost Heart Risk
2 min read
In the first study of its kind, researchers in Sweden have linked exposure to environmental toxins to an increased risk of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries — a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
In recent years, studies have increasingly associated exposure to environmental pollutants like PCBs, dioxin and pesticides to cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure and heart attack. Now, the new study clearly links such exposure to a key underlying cause of heart disease — atherosclerosis. (Previous research also shows that children born to mothers who were exposed to pesticides during pregnancy may have lower I.Q.)
Researchers from Uppsala University studied 1,016 adults age 70 or older in the small, industrial city of Uppsala, Sweden. The participants were tested for 23 environmental toxins, including many that have been banned. “In Sweden, and in many countries in the world, many of these substances are forbidden today, but since they are so long-lived they’re still out there in our environment. We ingest these environmental toxicants with the food we eat, and since they are stored in our bodies, the levels grow higher the older we get,” said Monica Lind, associate professor in environmental medicine at Uppsala University, in a statement.
Researchers then compared participants’ levels of environmental exposure to the health of their arteries, gauged by the amount of plaque build-up in the carotid artery. When fatty plaques accumulate on the inner walls of coronary arteries — known as atherosclerosis — it hardens and narrows the blood vessels, reducing the flow of blood to the heart; if an area of plaque ruptures, blocking blood flow completely, it can cause heart attack.
The researchers found a strong association between seven of the 23 environmental pollutants tested and plaque build-up in the carotid artery. Even after controlling for other cardiovascular risk factors like gender, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking, the association remained significant.
