Air pollution: challenges and opportunities for cardiology
Eugene Braunwald
Abstract
A connection between air, health, and water goes back to the writings of Hippocrates in 400 BC. 1 The negative impact of smoke on health was also recognized in imperial Rome during the first century CE.In 1278, King Edward I of England announced the 'Smoke Abatement Act' which prohibited the use of coal because it was considered 'prejudicial to health'.This was followed in the Middle Ages by a variety of laws, edicts, and proclamations in European countries that were designed to clear the air, with little success.During and after the Industrial Revolution, many illnesses were attributed to what has been referred to as 'air pollution' (AP).By the middle of the 20th century, a marked decline in global forests intensified AP by reducing uptake of CO 2 from the atmosphere.In 1995, the first orbiting satellite which examined the earth's atmospheric composition revealed that AP was a global rather than a national or regional problem.In 2004, Brook et al. 2 published the first comprehensive scientific statement on AP and cardiovascular disease.