ABSTRACT
With the rapid development of modern economy, road traffic has become increasingly busy, and the accompanying environmental pollution problem is becoming increasingly prominent. Air pollutants emitted from automobile exhaust, including particulate matters, NOx, CO, and hydrocarbons (PAHs), can cause high risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. This article summarizes the related epidemiological research progress on this topic from published literatures in recent years. We reviewed acute and chronic health damage to the cardiovascular system caused by traffic related air pollutants, including changes in heart rate variability and blood system indicators, potential association with coronary arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and death of cardiovascular disease. The results show that traffic-related air pollutants can cause decrease in heart rate variability, increased blood pressure and changes in blood indicators, increase acute mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollutants can induce increased risk of coronary atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, and lead to increased mortality from cardiovascular diseases. In the future, more attention should be paid to traffic-related air pollution, and more researches are recommended to comprehensively evaluate the relationship between traffic-related air pollution and cardiovascular health damages, especially in early-stage. At the same time, active researches on the mechanism of cardiovascular toxicity of traffic-related air pollutants are needed, so as to promote the early prevention of cardiovascular diseases.