Utilizing Unobtrusive Portable Electronic Devices for Real-Time Assessment of Indoor PM2.5 and tVOC Exposure and Its Correlation with Heart Rate Variability

Abstract

Real-time monitoring of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) can help individuals and organizations identify potential causes of poor indoor air quality and implement corrective measures to improve the indoor environment as well as evaluating the effectiveness of interventions and measuring their impact on both HRV and overall health and well-being. Simultaneously measuring HRV and IAQ allows for the real-time observation of the correlation between the two. The proposed solution uses a non-intrusive system utilizing the wrist wearable MAXREFDES103# Health Sensor Band by Maxim Integrated® and the portable Atmotube PRO by ATMOTECH INC® for real-time monitoring of HRV and IAQ, respectively. The results of the deployment provide evidence that exposure to Particulate Matter (PM) and total Volatile Organic Compounds (tVOC), has a negative impact on HRV. The data indicates that for every increase of 10.37 μg/m3 in PM2.5 and 57.4ppb in tVOC, there was an average decrease of 5.3% in SDNN and 7.08% in RMSSD of HRV. The findings of this study have important implications for public health, as HRV is a useful indicator of cardiovascular health.