Tiny Fuel Particles Cause Heart Attacks - Research
Date: 30-Nov-04
Country: SWITZERLAND
Studies showed that the particles are a major cause of heart attacks, one of the world's biggest killers, a scientist from an Austrian-based research body told a U.N. news conference.
"We always knew that they had an effect on the respiratory system, but now we know that they spark cardiovascular disease by inflaming the heart membranes," said Markus Amann of IAASA, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
Power stations, road traffic, steel and cement plants and even wood-burning in country areas contribute to the build-up of the particles, he added.
Amann was speaking in advance of a conference in Geneva of the U.N.'s Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), which is expected to set up an expert team to look at the problem.
The conference also marks the 25th anniversary of a pact on reducing cross-border air pollution, which has helped remove relatively heavy pollutants like sulphur from the atmosphere.
The fossil fuel particles that cause heart attacks, however, are light and can travel 2,000 to 3,000 kilometres (about 1,200 to 1,900 miles) on air currents.
Amann's institute is working with the ECE and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to analyse the results of studies across North America, Europe and former Soviet Central Asia on the effects of the particles.
"It is a continental problem on a global scale," said Amann, "and it can only be tackled through international cooperation".
