New research suggests living in a city may be hazardous to your health. A new study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society has found that people who live in urban areas where particulate air pollution is high tend to have higher blood pressure than those who live in less polluted areas.

German researchers analyzed the effects of air pollution exposure on blood pressure over a course of three years on 5,000 individuals enrolled in an on-going study on heart disease.

They found that blood pressure rose in conjunction with increases in fine particulate matter caused by combustion sources such as traffic, heating, industry and power plants.

"Both, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, are higher in people who live in more polluted areas, even if we take important factors that also influence blood pressure like age, gender, smoking, weight, etc. into account," said the study’s author, Barbara Hoffman, M.D. "Blood pressure increases were stronger in women than in men."

High blood pressure increases the risk for atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries, which leads to cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes.

Several large studies in Europe and the United States are already under way and are expected to shed more light on the chronic effects of living in polluted areas.