Fine Particulate Pollution is a Powerful Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease

In this issue, Moura PH et al found that the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan area, RJ, BR presents out-of-limit high levels of air pollution and there was a direct correlation between air pollution with PM_2.5 (Particulate Matter of 2.5 μm) and higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, especially in lower socioeconomic status and in the elderly.

Since the Framingham Study had enumerated the so-called traditional risk factors – hypertension, high LDL-cholesterol, low HDL-cholesterol, diabetes, tobacco smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and male sex – a growing number of risk factors have been continuously added to that list.

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