Effects of air pollution on blood pressure: a population-based approach.

OBJECTIVES: This analysis assessed the association between blood pressure, meteorology, and air pollution in a random population sample. METHODS: Blood pressure measurements of 2607 men and women aged 25 to 64 years who participated in the Augsburg Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease survey were analyzed in association with 24-hour mean concentrations of air pollutants. RESULTS: During the air pollution episode in Europe in January 1985, an association between blood pressure and air pollution was observed, which disappeared after adjustment for meteorology. Continuous concentrations of total suspended particulates and sulfur dioxide were associated with an increase in systolic blood pressure of 1.79 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.63, 2.95) per 90 micrograms/m3 total suspended particulates and 0.74 mm Hg (95% CI = 0.08, 1.40) per 80 micrograms/m3 sulfur dioxide. In subgroups with high plasma viscosity levels and increased heart rates, systolic blood pressure increased by 6.93 mm Hg (95% CI = 4.31, 9.75) and 7.76 mm Hg (95% CI = 5.70, 9.82) in association with total suspended particulates. CONCLUSIONS: The observed increase in systolic blood pressure associated with ambient air pollution could be related to a change in cardiovascular autonomic control.

[1]  J Schwartz,et al.  Oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and particulate air pollution: A daily time-series panel study. , 1999, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine.

[2]  L. Bergner.  Cigarettes and the Surgeon General's report. , 2001, American journal of public health.

[3]  H. Tunstall-Pedoe,et al.  Geographical variations in plasma viscosity and relation to coronary event rates , 1994, The Lancet.

[4]  B Neal,et al.  1999 World Health Organization-International Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the management of hypertension. Guidelines sub-committee of the World Health Organization. , 1999, Clinical and experimental hypertension.

[5]  C. Pope,et al.  Particulate air pollution and daily mortality on Utah's Wasatch Front. , 1999, Environmental health perspectives.

[6]  A. Peters,et al.  Increased plasma viscosity during an air pollution episode: a link to mortality? , 1997, The Lancet.

[7]  F. D. de Leeuw,et al.  Long-range transport modeling of air pollution episodes. , 1989, Environmental health perspectives.

[8]  J Schwartz,et al.  Ambient pollution and heart rate variability. , 2000, Circulation.

[9]  P. Allhoff,et al.  Health effects during a smog episode in West Germany in 1985. , 1989, Environmental health perspectives.

[10]  A. C. Burton,et al.  RECOMMENDATIONS for human blood pressure determinations by sphygmomanometers. , 1967, Journal of the American Medical Association.

[11]  G. Prescott,et al.  Urban air pollution and cardiopulmonary ill health: a 14.5 year time series study. , 1998, Occupational and environmental medicine.

[12]  Bruce Neal,et al.  1999 World Health Organization-International Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension. Guidelines Subcommittee. , 1999, Journal of hypertension.

[13]  J. Schwartz,et al.  Air pollution and daily mortality: a review and meta analysis. , 1994, Environmental research.

[14]  S Perz,et al.  Increases in heart rate during an air pollution episode. , 1999, American journal of epidemiology.

[15]  J. Schwartz,et al.  Heart rate variability associated with particulate air pollution. , 1999, American heart journal.

[16]  W. MacNee,et al.  Particulate air pollution and acute health effects , 1995, The Lancet.

[17]  J A Hanley,et al.  The relationship of urgent hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses to photochemical air pollution levels in Montreal. , 1994, Environmental research.

[18]  W G Kreyling,et al.  Daily mortality and fine and ultrafine particles in Erfurt, Germany part I: role of particle number and particle mass. , 2000, Research report.

[19]  D Krewski,et al.  The role of particulate size and chemistry in the association between summertime ambient air pollution and hospitalization for cardiorespiratory diseases. , 1997, Environmental health perspectives.

[20]  C. Pope,et al.  Health effects of particulate air pollution: time for reassessment? , 1995, Environmental health perspectives.

[21]  J Schwartz,et al.  Air pollution and hospital admissions for heart disease in eight U.S. counties. , 1998, Epidemiology.

[22]  W. Koenig,et al.  Association between plasma viscosity and blood pressure. Results from the MONICA-project Augsburg. , 1991, American journal of hypertension.

[23]  A. Le Tertre,et al.  Short term respiratory health effects of ambient air pollution: results of the APHEA project in Paris. , 1996, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[24]  D. Loomis,et al.  Mortality and ambient fine particles in southwest Mexico City, 1993-1995. , 1998, Environmental health perspectives.

[25]  H. Wichmann,et al.  Daily mortality and air pollutants: findings from Köln, Germany. , 1996, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[26]  L. Claudio,et al.  Environmental health sciences education--a tool for achieving environmental equity and protecting children. , 1998, Environmental health perspectives.

[27]  James M. Robins,et al.  Causal diagrams for epidemiologic research. , 1999 .

[28]  L. Chambless,et al.  The cardiovascular risk factor profile in the study area Augsburg. Results from the first MONICA survey 1984/85. , 2009, Acta medica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[29]  G. Grassi.  Role of the sympathetic nervous system in human hypertension , 1998, Journal of hypertension.

[30]  H. Hense,et al.  Assessment of blood pressure measurement quality in the baseline surveys of the WHO MONICA project. , 1995, Journal of human hypertension.

[31]  R. Burnett,et al.  Effects of particulate and gaseous air pollution on cardiorespiratory hospitalizations. , 1999, Archives of environmental health.

[32]  L. Wilhelmsen,et al.  Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease during 25 Years of Follow-Up , 1993 .

[33]  Marc Saez,et al.  Time‐Series Analysis of Air Pollution and Cause Specific Mortality , 1998, Epidemiology.

[34]  D. Webb,et al.  Endothelin as a regulator of cardiovascular function in health and disease , 1998, Journal of hypertension.

[35]  I. Adamson,et al.  Acute effects of inhaled urban particles and ozone: lung morphology, macrophage activity, and plasma endothelin-1. , 1998, The American journal of pathology.

[36]  Ronald W. Williams,et al.  Daily variation of particulate air pollution and poor cardiac autonomic control in the elderly. , 1999, Environmental health perspectives.

[37]  H. Itoh,et al.  Central effects of endothelin and its antagonists on sympathetic and cardiovascular regulation in SHR-SP. , 1999, Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology.

[38]  L Sheppard,et al.  Effects of ambient air pollution on nonelderly asthma hospital admissions in Seattle, Washington, 1987-1994. , 1999, Epidemiology.