According to researchers from the University of Dusiburg-Essen in Germany, people who live in urban areas where particulate air pollution is high, tend to have higher blood pressure than those who live in less polluted areas.

The researchers used data from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, an ongoing population- based cohort study of almost 5,000 individuals that focuses on the development of heart disease. They analysed the effects of air pollution exposure on blood pressure between 2000 and 2003.

The researchers found that average arterial blood pressure rose by 1.7 µm Hg for an increase of 2.4 µg/m³ in the exposure level to fine particulate matter (under 2.5 µm), which mostly originates from combustion sources in urban areas (traffic, heating, industry, power plants). They found a similar association for coarser particulate matter under 10ìm, which contains more earth crust material and roadway pollution.

Several large studies in Europe and the United States are already under way and are expected to shed more light on the chronic effects of living in polluted areas.

In a study funded by National Institutes of Health, USA and presented by Stanford University researchers, environmental factors were found to be responsible for type 2 diabetes.The researchers examined 226 separate environmental factors, including nutrition and exposure to bacteria, viruses, allergens and toxins.They found that certain factors, notably a pesticide derivative and the environmental contaminant PCB, were strongly associated with the development of diabetes. Other factors, including the nutrient beta-carotene, served a protective role.

The authors acknowledge that many challenges remain, including the fact that, unlike the genome, “the environment is boundless."