Ambient Particles and Health: Lines that Divide

Self Cite

109

To examine hypotheses regarding air pollution health effects, we conducted an exploratory study to evaluate relationships between personal and ambient concentrations of particles with measures of cardiopulmonary health in a sample of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ) . Sixteen currently non -smoking COPD patients ( mean age = 74 ) residing in Vancouver were equipped with a particle ( PM 2.5 ) monitor for seven 24 -h periods. Subjects underwent ambulatory heart monitoring, had their lung function and blood pressure ( BP ) measured, and recorded symptoms and medication use. Ambient PM 2.5 , PM 10 , sulfate, and gaseous pollutant concentrations were monitored at five sites within the study area. Although no associations between air pollution and lung function were statistically significant, an estimated effect of 3% and 1% declines in daily FEV 1 change ( ÁFEV 1 ) for each 10 g / m 3 increase in ambient PM 10 and PM 2.5 , respectively, was observed. Increases of 1 g / m 3 in personal or ambient sulfate were associated with 1.0% and 0.3% declines in ÁFEV 1 , respectively. Weak associations were observed between particle concentrations and increased supraventricular ectopic heartbeats and with decreased systolic BP. No consistent associations were observed between any particle metric and diastolic BP, heart rate, or heart rate variability ( r -MSSD or SDNN ) , symptom severity, or bronchodilator use. Of the pollutants measured, ambient PM 10 was most consistently associated with health parameters; the use of personal exposures did not improve the strength of any associations or lead to increased effect estimates.

Section: Respiratory Health Endpointssupporting

confidence: 48%

Exposure of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients to particles: Respiratory and cardiovascular health effects

Bräuer

Ebelt

Fisher

et al. 2001

Self Cite

109

“…Many studies have found that ambient particulate matter (PM) concentrations are positively correlated with respiratory and cardiovascular disease (Vedal, 1997;Samet et al, 2000;Peters et al, 2001). Because people spend most of their time indoors (Robinson et al, 1991;Smith, 1993), researchers have been investigating the relationships between personal, indoor, and outdoor PM to better understand the effect of ambient air on personal exposure and to identify indoor sources of PM exposure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated personal exposure to particulate matter from human activities in a residence

Ferro

Kopperud

Hildemann

2004

150

118

Continuous laser particle counters collocated with time-integrated filter samplers were used to measure personal, indoor, and outdoor particulate matter (PM) concentrations for a variety of prescribed human activities during a 5-day experimental period in a home in Redwood City, CA, USA. The mean daytime personal exposures to PM 2.5 and PM 5 during prescribed activities were 6 and 17 times, respectively, as high as the pre-activity indoor background concentration. Activities that resulted in the highest exposures of PM 2.5 , PM 5 , and PM 10 were those that disturbed dust reservoirs on furniture and textiles, such as dry dusting, folding clothes and blankets, and making a bed. The vigor of activity and type of flooring were also important factors for dust resuspension. Personal exposures to PM 2.5 and PM 5 were 1.4 and 1.6 times, respectively, as high as the indoor concentration as measured by a stationary monitor. The ratio of personal exposure to the indoor concentration was a function of both particle size and the distance of the human activity from the stationary indoor monitor. The results demonstrate that a wide variety of indoor human resuspension activities increase human exposure to PM and contribute to the ''personal cloud'' effect.

“…Many epidemiological studies have shown that daily changes in the amount of ambient particulate matter (PM ) are associated with morbidity and mortality (Vedal, 1997;Pope and Dockery, 1999 ). In most of the studies, exposures have been assessed as daily means.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photometrically measured continuous personal PM2.5 exposure: Levels and correlation to a gravimetric method

Lanki¹,

Alm²,

Ruuskanen

et al. 2002

There is evidence that hourly variations in exposure to airborne particulate matter ( PM ) may be associated with adverse health effects. Still there are only few published data on short -term levels of personal exposure to PM in community settings. The objectives of the study were to assess hourly and shorter -term variations in personal PM 2.5 exposure in Helsinki, Finland, and to compare results from portable photometers to simultaneously measured gravimetric concentrations. The effect of relative humidity on the photometric results was also evaluated. Personal PM 2.5 exposures of elderly persons were assessed for 24 h every second week, resulting in 308 successful measurements from 47 different subjects. Large changes in concentrations in minutes after cooking or changing microenvironment were seen. The median of daily 1 -h maxima was over twice the median of 24 -h averages. There was a strong significant association between the two means, which was not linear. Median ( 95th percentile ) of the photometric 24 -h concentrations was 12.1 ( 37.7 ) and of the 24 -h gravimetric concentrations 9.2 ( 21.3 ) g / m 3 . The correlation between the photometric and the gravimetric method was quite good ( R 2 = 0.86 ). Participants spent 94.1% of their time indoors or in a vehicle, where relative humidity is usually low and thus not likely to cause significant effects on photometric results. Even outdoors, the relative humidity had only modest effect on concentrations. Photometers are a promising method to explore the health effects of short -term variation in personal PM 2.5 exposure.