Advances in Understanding Air Pollution and CVD

Abstract

The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air) leveraged the platform of the MESA cohort into a prospective longitudinal study of relationships between air pollution and cardiovascular health. MESA Air researchers developed fine-scale, state-of-the-art air pollution exposure models for the MESA Air communities, creating individual exposure estimates for each participant. These models combine cohort-specific exposure monitoring, existing monitoring systems, and an extensive database of geographic and meteorological information. Together with extensive phenotyping in MESA—and adding participants and health measurements to the cohort—MESA Air investigated environmental exposures on a wide range of outcomes. Advances by the MESA Air team included not only a new approach to exposure modeling but also biostatistical advances in addressing exposure measurement error and temporal confounding. The MESA Air study advanced our understanding of the impact of air pollutants on cardiovascular disease and provided a research platform for advances in environmental epidemiology.

Reducing Exposures to Airborne Particles Through Improved Filtration: A High-Level Modeling Analysis

“…The California Air Resources Board and US Environmental Protection Agency provide additional guidance on practical measures to improve residential air filtration, including the use of portable air filtration devices in buildings without forced air systems [26]–[28]. While a complete analysis of portable air filtration devices is beyond the scope of this study, we briefly discuss the use of portable air cleaners with regards to typical US residences 4 . For discussion purposes, we use the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) metric, which is the production rate of clean air (ft 3 min −1 ) by a filtration system [30], [31].…”

“…While a complete analysis of portable air filtration devices is beyond the scope of this study, we briefly discuss the use of portable air cleaners with regards to typical US residences. 4 For discussion purposes, we use the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) metric, which is the production rate of clean air (ft 3 min -1 ) by a filtration system [30], [31]. 5 For typical residences with a MERV 7 rated filter and an always-on (100% duty cycle) furnace fan, the single family home and apartment furnace "CADR" values are ~1200 and ~440 ft 3 min -1 , respectively.…”

Application of the Public Health Exposome Framework to Estimate Phenotypes of Resilience in a Model Ohio African-American Women’s Cohort

“…This example shows how in African-Americans, reducing PM 2.5 exposure with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and socio-economic status may combine to decrease the overall risk of cardiovascular disease risk. Additionally, these differential trajectories might be contextualized as differential endo-phenotypes of resilience associated with increased morbidity and premature death from cardio-vascular disease (CVD) in exposed female African-American adults and those already suffering from a wide range of illnesses [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. While this is particularly evident in environmentally compromised neighborhoods, globally, very little is known as to how chemical and non-chemical exposures from the natural, built, and social environment, coupled with individual behavioral and inherent characteristics, propagate the effects of PM 2.5 on the lifetime progression of disparate cardio-metabolic health outcomes in longitudinal cohorts around the globe.…”

The role of air pollution and lung function in cognitive impairment

“…Poor pulmonary function has also been related to an increased risk of hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke [33,34], all of which are risk factors for the development of mild cognitive impairment and have been associated with air pollution [11,35]. A possible biological explanation for the association between impaired lung function and cognitive decline is that impaired pulmonary health can have a detrimental effect on cognitive function later in life through hypoxia and oxidative damage through systemic inflammation.…”