Study finds traffic pollution can speed hardening of arteries

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Margot Roosevelt

Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away, a study has found.

The paper is the first to link automobile and truck exhaust to the progression of atherosclerosis -- the thickening of artery walls -- in humans. The study was conducted by researchers from USC and UC Berkeley, along with colleagues in Spain and Switzerland, and published this week in the journal PloS ONE.

Researchers used ultrasound to measure the carotid artery wall thickness of 1,483 people who lived within 100 meters, or 328 feet, of Los Angeles freeways. Taking measurements every six months for three years, they correlated their findings with levels of outdoor particulates -- the toxic dust that spews from tailpipes -- at the residents' homes.

They found that artery wall thickness in study participants accelerated annually by 5.5 micrometers -- one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair -- more than twice the average progression.

According to co-author Howard N. Hodis, director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit at USC's Keck School of Medicine, the findings show "that environmental factors may play a larger role in the risk for cardiovascular disease than previously suspected."

UC Berkeley co-author Michael Jerrett noted that "for the first time, we have shown that air pollution contributes to the early formation of heart disease, known as atherosclerosis, which is connected to nearly half the deaths in Western societies. . . . By controlling air pollution from traffic, we may see much larger benefits to public health than we previously thought."

The study comes at a time of growing alarm over the effects of freeway pollution on nearby schools and homes. In the four-county Los Angeles Basin, 1.5 million people live within 300 meters, or 984 feet, of major freeways.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, is battling in federal court to overturn the caps on motor-vehicle emissions set by Southern California air quality officials, saying that they fail to account for higher pollution near freeways.

And Los Angeles and Long Beach residents are fighting expansion of the truck-clogged 710 Freeway, saying it will lead to higher rates of asthma, heart disease and cancer in densely populated areas.

In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a major study of traffic pollution near Detroit roadways to examine whether it leads to severe asthma attacks in children.

More than a third of Californians report that they or a family member suffer from asthma or respiratory problems, according to a survey last year. The Obama administration is proposing tighter standards for two vehicle-related pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone, the chief component of smog.

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[Ban Hammer 14,188]

so when are californians gonna start walking?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

so when are californians gonna start walking?

We only walk for exercise, after we have fought through traffic to get to the recreational area.

[Calypso 465]

so when are californians gonna start walking?

I walk to Wholefoods, to YMCA, to the public library and my husband and I also walk whenever we go to the Promenade. We even walk from end to end along Palisades Park for exercise. Besides, most restaurants [when I take a break from cooking meals for us] and other important establishments are just a few blocks away from where we live in Santa Monica.

[scandal 951]

I walk to Wholefoods, to YMCA, to the public library and my husband and I also walk whenever we go to the Promenade. We even walk from end to end along Palisades Park for exercise. Besides, most restaurants [when I take a break from cooking meals for us] and other important establishments are just a few blocks away from where we live in Santa Monica.

So watcha making for dinner? I'm coming over....

[Ali G. 37]

People in LA walk?

[Calypso 465]

So watcha making for dinner? I'm coming over....

My husband just told me that he made a reservation two weeks ago in a lobster place for tonight so there's no cooking [he knows how I love seafood and anything spicy]. He is making some spaghetti for me right now.

I can make you some turtle stew, bro, next time or we can prepare lamb osso bucco using one of your little sheep.

[scandal 951]

I can make you some turtle stew, bro, next time

we can prepare lamb osso bucco using one of your little sheep.

That's NOT funny. Sheep are for loving not eating.

[Calypso 465]

That's NOT funny. Sheep are for loving not eating.

Turtles are not for loving? I thought you and Spooky are in love.

[scandal 951]

Turtles are not for loving? I thought you and Spooky are in love.

Many people think that. Actually, it's Spooky and Eric and Marc that have a deeply meaningful three-way going on. I'm still just an outsider

[Calypso 465]

Many people think that. Actually, it's Spooky and Eric and Marc that have a deeply meaningful three-way going on. I'm still just an outsider

Foursome is too many. It can be a start of a purely male orgy... or half-male, half-ghey.