Air Pollution Can Cause Blood Clots, Harvard Study Says

Vivi Gorman
Posted on Thursday 4th June 2009

A study released last month by the Harvard School of Public Health concludes that tiny airborne hazardous particulate can lead to blood clots, which is often associated with long-term airplane flights.

Dr. Andrea Baccarelli and his colleagues studied over 800 people in Italy who had developed deep vein thrombosis between 1995 and 2005. In comparing these participants with other healthy individuals in the area, the researchers found that for every increase in unit of air pollution the risk of deep vein thrombosis increased exponentially.

The exposure to metals and other contaminants in the air can possibly cause blood to clot at a higher rate, they said.

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