[Effects of air pollution on cardiovascular health].

Authors

Marin Kuntic, Andreas Daiber, Omar Hahad, Jos Lelieveld, Thomas Münzel

Published in

Herz. Jul 03, 2026. Epub Jul 03, 2026.

Abstract

Ambient air pollution is a leading modifiable environmental determinant of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide. Long-term and short-term exposure to fine particulate matter and traffic-related pollutants is consistently associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmia and cardiovascular death. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that inhaled pollutants induce pulmonary and systemic oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, autonomic imbalance and prothrombotic changes, providing biological plausibility for these associations. Air pollution rarely acts in isolation but clusters with other environmental stressors, such as transportation noise, heat and limited access to green space and disproportionately affects socioeconomically disadvantaged and medically vulnerable groups. This review summarizes the current evidence on the cardiovascular effects of air pollution, highlights high-risk populations and discusses clinical, public health and policy strategies to reduce exposure and vulnerability. We argue that contemporary cardiovascular prevention must adopt an exposome-oriented perspective and engage with transport, energy, housing and urban planning policies to effectively protect vulnerable patients and communities.

PMID:
42399495
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.