Air pollution 'can affect heart function'

Reduced air quality has the potential to reduce heart function in heart attack survivors, it has been claimed.

New research published in the Circulation journal from the American Heart Association reveals that black carbon and air pollution particles can change the way the heart uses electrical signals.

Scientists led by Dr Diane Gold urge individuals who have recently suffered heart attacks to avoid venturing into areas with poor air quality near heavy traffic.

Dr Gold said: "We found that an elevation in fine particles, from non-traffic as well as traffic sources and black carbon, a marker for traffic, predicted ST-segment depression."

She added that effects were most pronounced in patients who had been hospitalised with heart attacks or diabetes.

In September 2007, a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology explored the possible neurodegenerative effects of black carbon, a marker for traffic particles.