One of the most common byproducts of the burning of fossil fuels, phenanthrene, causes heart arrythmias in mice, proving for the first time it is toxic to mammals, new research has discovered. 

The study is led by The University of Manchester in collaboration with the University of Bristol and Moscow State University, and funded by the British Heart Foundation. 

Thanks to earlier work by one of the lead authors Professor Holly Shiels from Manchester in conjunction with scientists at the University of Bristol, Moscow State University, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and Stanford University, phenanthrene's toxicity to the hearts of fish and crustaceans (crayfish) has been well established. But now the team has discovered the change also occurs in healthy mouse hearts when directly exposed to phenanthrene, mimicking what happens when we breath in pollution. 

Phenanthrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) that is present in crude oil and emitted into the air when fossil fuels are burnt; it is present in the gas phase of air pollution and also adheres to the surface of particulate matter (PM). It can be inhaled into the lung and then translocated into the bloodstream, eventually finding its way to the heart. In the study, when phenanthrene was applied to an isolated mouse heart, it caused monophasic tachycardia. The team showed that phenanthrene disrupts the contractile and electrical function of the mouse heart by blocking ion channels required for synchronous beating of the heart.

 Read the full University of Bristol news item

'Global air pollutant, phenanthrene, and arrhythmic outcomes in a mouse mode' by Sana Yaar, Ellie England, Jules C. Hancox, Holly A. Shiels et al. in Environmental Health Perspectives [open access]