Ground-level ozone, a type of air pollution that’s created when fumes such as car exhaust or factory emissions mix with sunlight, may increase the risk of a type of bleeding stroke called intracerebral hemorrhage, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study looked at data from 577 intracerebral hemorrhage patients who were treated in the Boston area between 1994 and 2011 and found that the risk increased when there were higher levels of ground-level ozone, but not when there were higher levels of other types of air pollution, such as fine particulate matter, black carbon, and nitrogen dioxide.
Intracerebral hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, allowing blood to leak inside the brain. It accounts for about 10% of all strokes.
“There is very little literature about the effects of ozone specifically on intracerebral hemorrhage,” said Elissa Wilker, an adjunct assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard Chan School, in an October 18, 2018 HealthDay article. “It may be an important factor, but it needs to be confirmed or refuted in future studies looking at other populations, in different places.”
Read the HealthDay article AHA: ozone pollution may be linked to a type of bleeding stroke