Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact of air pollution on the development of an irregular heartbeat and blood clots in the lung.

In 2010, the Department's expert advisory Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) published an estimate of the mortality effect in 2008 of long-term exposure to particulate air pollution arising from human activities. The mortality burden for the United Kingdom was estimated as an effect equivalent to nearly 29,000 deaths.

Air pollution has been linked with effects on the cardiovascular system. However, it has not been extensively and consistently linked to an increased risk of developing an irregular heartbeat and there are few studies investigating whether it raises the risk of blood clots in thelung.