CLEARING up the record-breaking snow storm that hit the north-east US last week may have been as hazardous as the storm itself.
When New York was buffeted by a similar blizzard on 9 January 1996, health officials conducted a survey on its impact. Apart from injuries caused directly by the storm, only one illness could be linked to the weather: scores of people were admitted to hospital suffering angina or heart attacks brought on by shovelling snow (American Journal of Emergency Medicine, vol 17, p 23).
