World Heart Day
While many people associate heart disease with poor diet, smoking, or lack of exercise, new research reveals another, less visible culprit: chemical pollution. A recent review in Nature Reviews Cardiology underscores the global scale of this danger, linking pollution of soil, water, and air to millions of premature deaths each year.
According to the review, illnesses related to chemical pollution of the soil, water and air are responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths annually, representing roughly 16 percent of all deaths worldwide. Strikingly, about half of these fatalities are cardiovascular—heart attacks, strokes, and other disorders of the circulatory system. This means that chemical contamination is not only an environmental crisis but also a major, yet under-recognized, driver of heart disease.
The problem starts with the pollutants themselves. Harmful substances like heavy metals—such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic—along with pesticides and newer contaminants like tiny plastic particles (microplastics and nanoplastics) can get into the water we drink, the food we eat, and even the air we breathe. Once these pollutants enter the body, they can damage our health in several connected ways. They may attach to important proteins in our cells and upset their normal work, which creates too many unstable molecules called free radicals. These free radicals trigger oxidative stress, a process that harms cells and leads to long-lasting inflammation. The pollutants can also disturb our body clock—the natural rhythm that helps control blood pressure, heart rate, and hormone levels—making it harder for the heart and blood vessels to stay healthy.
Exposure does not occur only in obvious industrial zones. The article highlights that people may encounter harmful chemicals at work, in consumer products, or indirectly through environmental contamination.
Protecting heart health now means more than personal lifestyle choices; it requires collective efforts to mitigate chemical pollution’s effects. Improving the environment and protecting human health are deeply connected goals, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) make this clear. When we reduce chemical pollution in soil, water, and air, we do more than protect ecosystems—we lower the risk of heart disease, strokes, and other illnesses linked to environmental contaminants.
References
- Münzel, T., Hahad, O., Lelieveld, J., Aschner, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M.J., Landrigan, P.J., & Daiber, A. (2025). Soil and water pollution and cardiovascular disease. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 22, 71-89. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-024-01068-0
Editor of Daily 27.
Predoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology in University of Barcelona.