Representational image.
(Pixabay/IANS)
Pesticides and heavy metals in soil may have detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system, according to a study.
Pollution of air, water and soil is responsible for at least nine million deaths each year. More than 60 per cent of pollution-related disease and death is due to cardiovascular disease such as chronic ischaemic heart disease, heart attack, stroke and heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias).
“Soil contamination is a less visible danger to human health than dirty air,” said author Professor Thomas Munzel of the University Medical Center Mainz (Germany).
“But the evidence is mounting that pollutants in soil may damage cardiovascular health through a number of mechanisms including inflammation and disrupting the body’s natural clock.”
In the paper published in Cardiovascular Research, the team stated that contaminated soil might lead to cardiovascular disease by increasing oxidative stress in the…