(1) Background: More than 1.8 million people in the European Union die every year as a result of CVD, accounting for 36% of all deaths with a large proportion being premature (before the age of 65). There are more than 300 different risk factors of CVD, known and air pollution is one of them. The aim of this study was to investigate whether daily cardiovascular mortality was associated with air pollutants and meteorological conditions in an urban environment with a low level of air pollution. (2) Methods: Data on daily incidence of strokes and myocardial infarctions in the city of Gdansk were obtained from the National Health Fund (NHF) and covered the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2018. Data on the level of pollution, i.e., SO₂, NO, NO₂, NOx, CO, PM10, PM2.5, CO₂, O₃ and meteorological conditions came from the foundation: Agency of Regional Air Quality Monitoring in the Gdańsk metropolitan area (ARMAG). Using these data, we calculated mean values with standard deviation (SD) and derived the minimum and maximum values and interquartile range (IQR). Time series regression with Poisson distribution was used in statistical analysis. (4) Results: Stroke incidence is significantly affected by an increase in concentrations of NO, NO₂ and NOx with RRs equal to 1.019 (95%CI: 1.001–1.036), 1.036 (95%CI: 1.008–1.064) and 1.017 (95%CI: 1.000–1.034) for every increase in IQR by 14.12, 14.62 and 22.62 μg/m³, respectively. Similarly, myocardial infarction incidence is significantly affected by an increase in concentrations of NO, NO₂ and NOx with RRs equal to 1.030 (95%CI: 1.011–1.048), 1.053 (95%CI: 1.024–1.082) and 1.027 (95%CI: 1.010–1.045) for every increase in IQR by 14.12, 14.62 and 22.62 μg/m³, respectively. Both PM10 and PM2.5 were positively associated with myocardial infarction incidence. (5) Conclusions: In this time-series cross-sectional study, we found strong evidence that support the hypothesis that transient elevations in ambient PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, SO₂ and CO are associated with higher relative risk of ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction incidents.

(1) Background: Haemorrhagic strokes (HS), including intracerebral (ICH) and subarachnoid haemorrhages (SAH), account for approximately 10–15% of strokes worldwide but are associated with worse functional outcomes and higher rates of mortality, and financial burden than ischemic stroke. There is evidence that confirmed poor air quality may increase the incidence of haemorrhagic strokes. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between individual ambient air pollutants and the risk of haemorrhagic stroke in an urban environment without high levels of air pollution. (2) Methods: A time-series cross-sectional study design was used. A daily air pollution concentration (Agency of Regional Air Quality Monitoring in the Gdansk Metropolitan Area) and incidence of haemorrhagic strokes (National Health Fund) were obtained and covered the time period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2018. A generalised additive model with Poisson regression was used to estimate the associations between 24-h mean concentrations of SO₂, NO, NO₂, NOx, CO, PM10, PM2.5, and O₃ and a daily number of haemorrhagic strokes. (3) Results: The single-day lag model results showed that NO₂, NO and NO_x exposure was associated with increased risk of ICH (88% events) with RR of 1.059 (95% CI: 1.015–1.105 for lag0), 1.033 (95% CI: 1.007–1.060 for lag0) and 1.031 (95% CI: 1.005–1.056 for lag0), but not for SAH (12% events). Exposure to CO was related to a substantial and statistically significant increase in incidence for 1.031 (95% CI: 1.002–1.061 for lag0) but not for SAH. Higher SO₂, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and O₃ exposures were not significantly related to both ISC and SAH. (4) Conclusions: In this time-series cross-sectional study, we found strong evidence that supports the hypothesis that transient elevations in ambient NO₂, NO and CO are associated with a higher relative risk of intracerebral but not subarachnoid haemorrhage.

The presented study investigates and compares the genotoxic potential of four commonly used diesters of phthalic acid (phthalates) in the presence and absence of S9 metabolic activation by using the SOS/umuC assay on Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 [pSK1002]. Phthalates are plasticizers with a wide range of applications for manufacturing plastic and non-plastic products. Therefore, phthalates are identified as contaminants in a variety of consumer products. The results showed that phthalates did not induce mutations without S9 metabolic activation (with the exception of BBzP). The genotoxic activity was further studied with the S9 metabolic activation. Assessment of the genotoxic potential indicates a significant (p<0,05 for DEP, DBP and BBzP) and highly significant (p<0,01 for DEHP) increase of this potential for each phthalate sample.