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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Very little research has been done on the health effects of coarse particulate air pollution on cardiovascular disease. But a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found risks from exposure to these kinds of pollutants was not significantly linked with increased hospital admissions.
Airborne coarse particulates include those caused by agricultural activity, windblown dust and mechanical grinding. They usually end up in the upper and larger airways. Fine particulate pollutants are the result of the combustion process and they lodge in the smaller airways and sacs in the lungs. Extensive research on this type of pollution has been done and it has been linked with increased risk of illness and death.
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Robert D. Peng, Ph.D. and colleagues studied hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory disease related to both types of particulates. They determined that after adjusting for fine particulate related problems, there was no statistical association for same day hospital admissions due to the effects of coarse particles. This was true in all geographic regions.
There is long standing recognition of how size influences patterns of deposition within the respiratory system, study authors write. In their conclusion, they state that despite the fact they found no link between large particle pollutants and emergency hospital admissions, they still recommend, these findings be considered when National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter is next reviewed and that monitoring continues so that further studies can be performed.
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SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;299:2172-2179
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