A Review of the Links Between Work and Heart Disease in the 21st Century

Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2024 Nov 5;20(5):71-80. doi: 10.14797/mdcvj.1478. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

This review explores the multifaceted exposures in the workplace that contribute to cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including physical, ergonomics, chemical, biological, psychosocial, and emerging occupational hazards. These well-documented occupational hazards have long been linked to heart disease. Exposures arising from these hazards present significant concerns for worker health and safety. Moreover, heat stress is an emerging and increasingly pervasive threat, exacerbated by climate change, particularly in outdoor, high-exposure industries like agriculture and construction. While the epidemiological links between heat and CVD are well established, there is a critical gap in research on the physiological impacts of heat on workers' cardiovascular health. In particular, migrant workers are especially vulnerable to these occupational hazards, particularly in the absence of targeted, equitable interventions. As global temperatures rise, addressing these occupational exposures is important for protecting the cardiovascular health of the workforce and the expanding field of occupational cardiology.

Keywords: climate change; heat workers; migrant workers; occupational cardiology; occupational health and safety.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Heart Disease Risk Factors
  • Heart Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Heart Diseases* / physiopathology
  • Heart Diseases* / prevention & control
  • Heat Stress Disorders / epidemiology
  • Heat Stress Disorders / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Occupational Diseases* / diagnosis
  • Occupational Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Occupational Diseases* / physiopathology
  • Occupational Diseases* / prevention & control
  • Occupational Exposure* / adverse effects
  • Occupational Exposure* / prevention & control
  • Occupational Health*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Workplace

Grants and funding

This investigation was made possible by Grant No. T42 OH008416 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) through Harvard-NIOSH Education and Research Center (ERC) pilot grant awarded to Barrak Alahmad.