Repeated Measures of Pulse Pressure Associated with Personal Traffic Exposures in a Behavior Intervention Study of Healthy Adults

Abstract

Previous behavioral intervention studies of traffic-related air pollutants have demonstrated adverse health effects in human populations by comparing areas of high and low traffic. A repeated-measures, crossover intervention study design was used in which 23 healthy, non-smoking adults (mean age = 25 years) participants had clinical cardiopulmonary measurements taken prior to, post, and 24 hrs after intermittent walking for 1.5 hours in the summer months of 2011 and 2012 along three diverse roadways: one with heavy truck and car traffic, one with heavy car traffic, and one with light car traffic. Personal measurements of particulate matter pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, black carbon (BC), elemental carbon (EC), and organic carbon) were collected during each exposure. Changes in health effects data were calculated as percentage of change relative to baseline values (% change = (post-pre)/pre * 100 or (24 hr-pre)/pre * 100) and analyzed using mixed-effect models adjusted for roadway location, temperature, and random subject effects. Decreases in pulse pressure (PP) were associated with increases in BC and PM2.5 EC concentrations both post exposure (BC: ß: -3.67; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = -7.97 to 0.63 and PM2.5 EC: ß: -4.24; 95% CI = -7.3 to -1.14) and 24 hrs after exposures (BC: ß: -3.49; 95% CI = -8.10 to 1.12 and PM2.5 EC: ß: -3.95; 95% CI = -7.25 to -0.65). Similar decreases were observed for systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure. We observed acute cardiovascular effects of personal exposures to traffic-related pollution in a group of healthy young adults associated with the diesel-source pollutants EC and BC. This abstract of a proposed presentation does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.