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ABSTRACT: Background
Fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution is associated with numerous adverse health effects, including increased blood pressure (BP) and vascular dysfunction. Coarse PM substantially contributes to global air pollution, yet differs in characteristics from fine particles and is currently not regulated. However, the cardiovascular (CV) impacts of coarse PM exposure remain largely unknown.Objectives
Our goal was to elucidate whether coarse PM, like fine PM, is itself capable of eliciting adverse CV responses.Methods
We performed a randomized double-blind crossover study in which 32 healthy adults (25.9 ± 6.6 years of age) were exposed to concentrated ambient coarse particles (CAP; 76.2 ± 51.5 ?g/m(3)) in a rural location and filtered air (FA) for 2 hr. We measured CV outcomes during, immediately after, and 2 hr postexposures.Results
Both systolic (mean difference = 0.32 mmHg; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.58; p = 0.021) and diastolic BP (0.27 mmHg; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.53; p = 0.05) linearly increased per 10 min of exposure during the inhalation of coarse CAP when compared with changes during FA exposure. Heart rate was on average higher (4.1 bpm; 95% CI: 3.06, 5.12; p < 0.0001) and the ratio of low-to-high frequency heart rate variability increased (0.24; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.41; p = 0.007) during coarse particle versus FA exposure. Other outcomes (brachial flow-mediated dilatation, microvascular reactive hyperemia index, aortic hemodynamics, pulse wave velocity) were not differentially altered by the exposures.Conclusions
Inhalation of coarse PM from a rural location is associated with a rapid elevation in BP and heart rate during exposure, likely due to the triggering of autonomic imbalance. These findings add mechanistic evidence supporting the biological plausibility that coarse particles could contribute to the triggering of acute CV events.
SUBMITTER: Brook RD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4050508 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Brook Robert D RD Bard Robert L RL Morishita Masako M Dvonch J Timothy JT Wang Lu L Yang Hui-Yu HY Spino Catherine C Mukherjee Bhramar B Kaplan Mariana J MJ Yalavarthi Srilakshmi S Oral Elif A EA Ajluni Nevin N Sun Qinghua Q Brook Jeffrey R JR Harkema Jack J Rajagopalan Sanjay S
Environmental health perspectives 20140311 6
<h4>Background</h4>Fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution is associated with numerous adverse health effects, including increased blood pressure (BP) and vascular dysfunction. Coarse PM substantially contributes to global air pollution, yet differs in characteristics from fine particles and is currently not regulated. However, the cardiovascular (CV) impacts of coarse PM exposure remain largely unknown.<h4>Objectives</h4>Our goal was to elucidate whether coarse PM, like fine PM, is itself ca ...[more]