Association between particulate matter air pollution and heart attacks in San Diego County

Air pollution is one of the major risk factors contributing to adverse public health outcomes worldwide. Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) has been repeatedly associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks. Because PM_2.5 is unequally distributed with elevated concentrations near high-traffic and industrial zones, PM_2.5 is an environmental justice issue of major public health concern. In this study, we reviewed the relationship between PM_2.5, emergency visits due to heart attacks, and environmental justice in San Diego County using data from CalEnviroScreen 3.0. Our results indicate that PM_2.5, diesel PM emissions, and emergency visits due to heart attacks are weakly, but positively correlated (r = 0.3, R² < 0.1). Areas classified as environmental justice communities, communities comprised more dominantly of nonwhite populations, and communities closer to the San Diego-Tijuana border are exposed disproportionately to air pollution in San Diego County. Overall, this work demonstrates that there is an association between elevated local PM concentrations in San Diego County communities with emergency hospital visits due to heart attacks, and that these associations are an environmental justice issue disproportionally affecting disadvantaged communities.Implications: Particulate matter is an adverse contributor to overall health throughout the lifespan, contributing to diseases such as asthma, hypertension, stroke, and increased risk of cardiovascular events. Here, we assess the relationship between particulate matter and heart attacks in San Diego County using CalEnviroScreen3.0. Using these tools, we also examine correlations between this relationship and different sociodemographic indicators such as age, race, income, and proximity to the high-traffic U.S.-Mexico border. Overall, we show that specific communities around San Diego are more highly exposed to particulate matter, and that these relationships may be disproportionately contributing to heart attacks in disadvantaged communities.