| Hospitalization Rates for Coronary Heart Disease in Relation to Residence Near Areas Contaminated with Persistent Organic Pollutants and Other Pollutants Alexander V. Sergeev* and David O. Carpenter Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, Rensselaer, New York, USA Abstract
Exposure to environmental pollutants may contribute to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) . We determined the ZIP codes containing or abutting each of the approximately 900 hazardous waste sites in New York and identified the major contaminants in each. Three categories of ZIP codes were then distinguished: those containing or abutting sites contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) , those containing only other types of wastes ("other waste") , and those not containing any identified hazardous waste site ("clean") . Effects of residence in each of these ZIP codes on CHD and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospital discharge rates were assessed with a negative binomial model, adjusting for age, sex, race, income, and health insurance coverage. Patients living in ZIP codes contaminated with POPs had a statistically significant 15.0% elevation in CHD hospital discharge rates and a 20.0% elevation in AMI discharge rates compared with clean ZIP codes. In neither of the comparisons were rates in other-waste sites significantly greater than in clean sites. In a subset of POP ZIP codes along the Hudson River, where average income is higher and there is less smoking, better diet, and more exercise, the rate of hospitalization for CHD was 35.8% greater and for AMI 39.1% greater than in clean sites. Although the cross-sectional design of the study prevents definite conclusions on causal inference, the results indirectly support the hypothesis that living near a POP-contaminated site constitutes a risk of exposure and of development of CHD and AMI. Key words: acute myocardial infarction, hazardous waste sites, hospitalization, persistent organic pollutants, Superfund sites. Environ Health Perspect 113:756-761 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7595 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 14 March 2005]
Address correspondence to D.O. Carpenter, Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, One University Place, A217, Rensselaer, NY 12144-3456 USA. Telephone: (518) 525-2660. Fax: (518) 525-2665. E-mail: carpent@uamail.albany.edu *Current address: Hospital Therapy Department, Smolensk State Medical Academy, Krupskoy St., 28, Smolensk, 214019 Russia. We thank L. Le, I. Scherbatykh, and R. Huang for help with the figure and data analysis. This work was supported by the Edmund S. Muskie/Freedom Support Act Graduate Fellowship Program and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health (TW00636 to D.O.C.) . The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 20 September 2004 ; accepted 14 March 2005.
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