African Americans face higher levels of air pollution as compared to the white population, and this may be the reason they are more susceptible to heart disease and death, according to a study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Researchers examined data on fine particulate matter and black carbon from a Pittsburgh-area monitoring and modeling campaign. They combined the data with research from the Heart Strategies Concentrating on Risk Evaluation, an ongoing study with 1,717 participants. Forty-five percent of the study's participants are black.
For the current study, researchers assessed patients by using questionnaires as well as during annual follow-up study visits for heart-related hospitalizations.
The study shows as compared to the white population, black people experienced higher average exposures to both fine particulate matter and black carbon air pollutants. They also experience a 45 percent higher risk of cardiovascular events and death.
According to researchers, the increased exposure to fine particulate matter pollutants explains around 25 percent of the association between race and cardiovascular events.