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. 2011 Dec;119(12):1706-11.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.1103564. Epub 2011 Aug 9.

Long-term urban particulate air pollution, traffic noise, and arterial blood pressure

Kateryna Fuks  1 , Susanne Moebus, Sabine Hertel, Anja Viehmann, Michael Nonnemacher, Nico Dragano, Stefan Möhlenkamp, Hermann Jakobs, Christoph Kessler, Raimund Erbel, Barbara Hoffmann; Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study Investigative Group
Affiliations

Long-term urban particulate air pollution, traffic noise, and arterial blood pressure

Kateryna Fuks et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Recent studies have shown an association of short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) with transient increases in blood pressure (BP), but it is unclear whether long-term exposure has an effect on arterial BP and hypertension.

Objectives: We investigated the cross-sectional association of residential long-term PM exposure with arterial BP and hypertension, taking short-term variations of PM and long-term road traffic noise exposure into account.

Methods: We used baseline data (2000-2003) on 4,291 participants, 45-75 years of age, from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, a population-based prospective cohort in Germany. Urban background exposure to PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM(2.5)) and ≤ 10 μm (PM(10)) was assessed with a dispersion and chemistry transport model. We used generalized additive models, adjusting for short-term PM, meteorology, traffic proximity, and individual risk factors.

Results: An interquartile increase in PM2.5 (2.4 μg/m(3)) was associated with estimated increases in mean systolic and diastolic BP of 1.4 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.5, 2.3] and 0.9 mmHg (95% CI: 0.4, 1.4), respectively. The observed relationship was independent of long-term exposure to road traffic noise and robust to the inclusion of many potential confounders. Residential proximity to high traffic and traffic noise exposure showed a tendency toward higher BP and an elevated prevalence of hypertension.

Conclusions: We found an association of long-term exposure to PM with increased arterial BP in a population-based sample. This finding supports our hypothesis that long-term PM exposure may promote atherosclerosis, with air-pollution-induced increases in BP being one possible biological pathway.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimated absolute increase in arterial BP (mmHg) (with 95% CI) by quartiles of yearly mean PM exposure (μg/m3) in participants of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study (n = 4,291); reference is quartile 1; adjusted for short-term PM, temperature, season, time trend, traffic proximity, sex, age, BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking, passive smoking, and physical activity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of yearly mean PM2.5 IQR (2.4 μg/m3) on systolic BP (mmHg) (with 95% CI) in subgroups, using interaction terms (n = 4,291); adjusted for short-term PM, temperature, season, time trend, traffic proximity, sex, age, BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking, passive smoking, and physical activity.
Figure 3
Figure 3
OR for hypertension (with 95% CI) by IQR increase PM2.5 and PM10 (µg/m3), by proximity to general-duty and heavy-duty traffic and by levels of road traffic noise (n = 4,291); adjusted for short-term PM, traffic proximity (or road traffic noise in the corresponding model), temperature, season, time trend, sex, age, BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking, passive smoking, and physical activity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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