“Environmental exposure is an important but underappreciated risk factor contributing to the development and severity of cardiovascular disease (CVD)” says the NCBI. The heart and vascular system are highly vulnerable to a number of environmental agents such as ambient air pollution and the metals arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Those are some of the most found environmental risks dealing with heart disease. Traditional risk factors, such as smoking and diabetes mellitus, those exposes advance the disease and immortalize it, making it harder to get rid of it. Traditional exposures hurt the heart “ via augmentation or initiation of pathophysiological processes associated with CVD, including blood-pressure control, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, vascular function, and atherogenesis” as the NCBI states. Residence in highly polluted areas are associated with high levels of cardiovascular risk. Effects on cardiovascular health also occur at exposure levels below current regulatory standards. “Evidence-based clinical and public-health strategies aimed at reducing environmental exposures from current levels could substantially lower the burden of CVD-related death and disability worldwide.” So basically what the NCBI is saying if we cut down on these things, we will have less heart disease and deaths.
Environmental factors in cardiovascular disease. K Cosselman-A Navas-Acien-J Kaufman - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26461967 2015 Nov;12(11):627-42. doi: 10.1038/nrcardio.2015.152. Epub 2015 Oct 13.