What are the Health Risks of Air Pollution?
About 4 percent of deaths in the United States can be attributed to air pollution, according to the Environmental Science Engineering Program at the Harvard School of Public Health. And, alarmingly, in the most polluted cities it has been estimated that lives are shortened by an average of one to two years, according to research by the American Cancer Society and Harvard University. For instance, long-term exposure to air pollution, particularly that from motor traffic, increases the risk of fatal heart attacks, according to a study published by the Karolinska Institute, Institute of Environmental Medicine. Another study, published in the March 2005 issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found that air pollution increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and makes respiratory problems worse, by thickening the blood and increasing inflammation, respectively. While everyone is at risk from polluted air, certain groups are most at risk, according to the American Lung Asso
