A new study explains for the first time how nanoparticles like those in diesel exhaust fumes cause heart disease by lodging in inflamed blood vessels, writes Oliver Tickell. The study, published as the UK government is ordered before the High Court to justify its refusal to publish plans to tackle illegal air pollution which afflicts 38 million people, also raises wider fears about 'engineered nanoparticles' in the environment.
Inhaled nanoparticles - like those released from vehicle exhausts, in particular from diesel vehicles - can work their way through the lungs and into the bloodstream, raising the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The findings, published today in the journal ACS Nano based on research part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, build on previous studies that have found tiny particles in air pollution are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, although the cause remains unproven.
Continue reading at ENN affiliate, The Ecologist.
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