Particulate matter may increase heart disease risk for those living around Schiphol

People living around Schiphol may have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases due to ultrafine particles from air traffic, De Telegraaf wrote based on an RIVM report that will be published later this week. The risk of death from cardiac arrhythmias also seems to be higher than in the rest of the Netherlands.

The researchers also found indications, but no hard evidence, that pregnant women's exposure to ultrafine particulate matter negatively influences "birth outcomes." There may be an increased risk of premature births, for example.

The researchers compared the health data of the residents of 31 municipalities around Schiphol to that of municipalities with a lower concentration of ultrafine particles in the air. They did not draw any firm conclusions about the consequences of exposure. "We speak of 'possible' because there is too much uncertainty to definitively conclude that there is a connection."

The study followed previous RIVM research that showed three years ago that kids with respiratory diseases around Schiphol had more breathing problems on days when there were a lot of ultrafine particles in the air.