Researchers have found that air pollution is associated with detrimental impacts on human and animals health, including increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
The study, published in The Journal of Physiology , by researchers at The University of Manchester in the UK, shows that the knowledge people have about how pollution harms the hearts of marine species can be applied to humans, as the underlying mechanisms are similar.
Around 11,000 coronary heart disease and stroke deaths in the UK each year are attributable to air pollution, specifically due to particulate matter (PM), or small particles in the air that cause health problems.
PM 2.5 is one of the finest and most dangerous types of PM, is a compound for which the UK has failed to meet European Union limits.
For the findings, the researchers looked across all vertebrates and particularly focused on a set of compounds that binds to the surface of PM, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) as its amount on PM is associated with the detrimental affects that air pollution has on the heart.
"Pollution affects all of us living on Planet Earth. Due to the conserved nature of cardiac function amongst animals, fish exposed to PAH from oil spills can serve as indicators, providing significant insights into the human health impacts of PAHs and PM air pollution," said Holly Shiels, study senior author from the University of Manchester.
Studies after the '1999 Exxon Valdez oil spill' showed that the ecosystem still has not recovered 20 years on.
According to the researchers, in 2010, research on fish after the 'Deepwater Horizon oil spill', which released large quantities of PAHs into the marine environment, showed that the heart's ability to contract was impaired.
(This story was auto-published from a syndicated feed. Only the title and the image have been been edited by FIT.)
(India, and the Capital especially, has been in an air pollution crisis. How has the hazardous air #pollution impacted you? Write down your #PollutionKaSolution and send it to us at FIT@thequint.com. )
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)