‘Safe’ pollution levels need to be halved to cut heart disease

THE UK’S “safe” pollution threshold should be cut by at least half, experts have said, after research showed just small levels can trigger heart disease.

The largest British analysis of its kind indicates that living near busy roads can expand the heart, making it harder to pump blood around the body.

Scientists at Queen Mary University of London investigated links between alterations to the structure of the heart and exposure to pollution by examining the data of nearly 4,000 people over five years.

They focused on nitrogen dioxide levels and particles of pollution called PM2.5, significant because they can be small enough to enter the bloodstream via the lungs.

They found that for every microgram per cubic metre of PM2.5 and for every 10mg of nitrogen dioxide, the chambers of the heart enlarged by approximately 1 per cent.

The study found that the average annual PM2.5 exposure in the UK – where more than 2.6million people are living with some form of coronary heart disease – is between 8 and 12, yet according to UK guidelines the safe threshold is 25.

Prof Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, which part-funded the study, published in the journal Circulation, said: “What is particularly worrying is that the levels of air pollution, particularly PM2.5 … are not even deemed particularly high by the UK Government – this is why we are calling for the WHO guidelines to be adopted.

“They are less than half of UK legal limits and while we know there are no safe limits for some forms of air pollution, we believe this is a crucial step in protecting the nation’s heart health.”