Longer exposure to air pollution has been connected to greater risk for blood clotting in deep veins, according to a longitudinal study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The 6,651 study participants were followed for 17 years. It is important to note that the participants lived “in or near one of six major metropolitan areas: New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Winston-Salem,” according to NIH’s media advisory on the study.
Three different types of air pollutants were researched. The study concluded that the adults observed had greater exposure to pollution from sources like smoke from coal-burning power plants, forest fires, and motor vehicle exhaust (“tiny air pollution particles equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers”), which resulted in a 39% increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). The participants who had more exposure to “oxides of nitrogen and nitrogen dioxide, pollutants most often found from vehicle exhaust, had a respective 121% to 174% increased risk.”
