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The evidence on what air pollution is doing to our bodies just keeps getting worse.

A new Utah study presented today at a national scientific meeting of the American Heart Association documents increased hospital admissions for heart patients during inversions.

The particulate matter in air pollution may affect the heart by triggering what is called "cardiac decompensation."

Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center (IMC), in partnership with scientists at Brigham Young University, have documented a 13 percent higher risk of admission for a patient with heart failure for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particulate pollution matter, called PM2.5.

"That's a fairly moderate increase in pollution. If you have a 50 microgram per cubic meter increase, then it would be five times that 13 percent," explained Dr. Benjamin Horne, the study's principle investigator at IMC.

Earlier research at IMC showed pollution can trigger an increased risk for heart attacks. Horne says this latest study now shows pollution may create inflammation that keeps the heart from maintaining adequate circulation.

The strongest connection between PM2.5 and heart failure occurred in elderly patients who had been previously hospitalized for heart failure.

While the study looked at these individual patients, the implications to the population at large are significant.

"Where the nature of this pollution exposure is involuntary, and everyone in the Salt Lake Valley or along the Wasatch Front is being exposed -- for example, during an inversion -- then there is a very significant risk across the full population. That's a large burden of disease for everyone," Horne said.

Even more sobering: Previous studies show a possible cumulative effect -- a gradual decline in health for those exposed to even moderate pollution season after season.

Horne says future studies might look at other kinds of heart conditions besides those caused by inflammation. For example, can fine particulates in pollution trigger electrical rhythm problems where the heart skips a beat?

E-mail: eyeates@ksl.com