Air pollution dramatically boosts an individual’s risk of developing deep vein thrombosis, new study reveals.

Air pollution dramatically boosts an individual’s risk of developing deep vein thrombosis, a new study indicates. People with DVT typically develop clots in the leg or thigh. If those clots break off and travel, especially to the lungs, organ damage or death may follow.

The new study focused on exposure to airborne particles 10 micrometers and smaller, known as PM10. Created largely as part of combustion exhaust, these particles are so small that they can be inhaled deeply into the lungs. [Clean fuels, used concurrently with cleaner vehicle technologies greatly reduce emissions and particles.]

“We were surprised at the magnitude of the relative risk” associated with this pollution, says Joel Schwartz of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, an author of the new report. Although earlier studies have linked cardiovascular disease to PM10, including risk of heart attack and stroke, this pollution now appears to have a more potent effect on elevating risk of DVT, his team reports in the May 12 Archives of Internal Medicine.

For more please visit: Pollution and blood clots. Air pollution dramatically boosts an individual’s risk of developing deep vein thrombosis, a new study indicates. Science News http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32052/title/Pollution_and_blood_clots