The effects of exposure to environmental factors on Heart Rate Variability: an ecological perspective.

The impact of human exposure to environmental factors on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was examined in the urban space of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa. Four environmental factors were investigated: thermal and social loads; CO concentrations and noise. Levels of HRV are explained mainly by subjective social stresses, noise and CO. The most interesting result is the fact that while subjective social stress and noise increase HRV, low levels of CO are reducing HRV to some extent moderating the impact of subjective social stress and noise. Beyond the poisoning effect of CO and the fact that extremely low levels of HRV associated with high dozes of CO increase risk for life, low levels of CO may have a narcotic effect, as it is measured by HRV. The effects of thermal loads on HRV are negligible probably due to the use of behavioral means in order to neutralize heat and cold effects.

[1]  H. Selye.  The Stress of Life , 1958 .

[2]  Delbert J Eatough,et al.  Ambient particulate air pollution, heart rate variability, and blood markers of inflammation in a panel of elderly subjects. , 2004, Environmental health perspectives.

[3]  A. Matzarakis,et al.  Human thermal perception of Coastal Mediterranean outdoor urban environments , 2013 .

[4]  R. Colvile,et al.  Fine particle (PM2.5) personal exposure levels in transport microenvironments, London, UK. , 2001, The Science of the total environment.

[5]  P. Vokonas,et al.  Effects of Air Pollution on Heart Rate Variability: The VA Normative Aging Study , 2004, Environmental health perspectives.

[6]  J. Toftum.  Human response to combined indoor environment exposures , 2002 .

[7]  H. Mayer,et al.  Modelling radiation fluxes in simple and complex environments—application of the RayMan model , 2007, International journal of biometeorology.

[8]  Anders Kjellberg,et al.  Noise in the office: Part II — The scientific basis (knowledge base) for the guide , 1994 .

[9]  T. Nilsson,et al.  Acute effects on heart rate variability when exposed to hand transmitted vibration and noise , 2007, International archives of occupational and environmental health.

[10]  Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen,et al.  Personal exposure of street canyon intersection users to PM2.5, ultrafine particle counts and carbon monoxide in Central London, UK , 2005 .

[11]  Zhiwei Lian,et al.  Heart rate variability at different thermal comfort levels , 2008, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[12]  Daniel J Buysse,et al.  Acute Stress Affects Heart Rate Variability During Sleep , 2004, Psychosomatic medicine.

[13]  Zhaolin Gu,et al.  Effect of uneven building layout on air flow and pollutant dispersion in non-uniform street canyons , 2011 .

[14]  J M Wolfson,et al.  Mechanisms of morbidity and mortality from exposure to ambient air particles. , 2000, Research report.

[15]  P. Stein,et al.  Heart rate variability: a measure of cardiac autonomic tone. , 1994, American heart journal.

[16]  Y. Epstein,et al.  Urban daily life routines and human exposure to environmental discomfort , 2012, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

[17]  G. Jendritzky,et al.  Methodik zur räumlichen Bewertung der thermischen Komponente im Bioklima des Menschen , 1990 .

[18]  A. Camm,et al.  Components of heart rate variability--what they really mean and what we really measure. , 1993, The American journal of cardiology.

[19]  T. Honjo,et al.  Thermal Comfort and Outdoor Activity in Japanese Urban Public Places , 2007 .

[20]  C C Federspiel,et al.  Correlation between temperature satisfaction and unsolicited complaint rates in commercial buildings. , 2005, Indoor air.

[21]  T. Areta.  [Sympathetic and parasympathetic]. , 1960, Anais paulistas de medicina e cirurgia.

[22]  Steve Wing,et al.  Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia , 2004, Environmental health perspectives.

[23]  P. Fanger,et al.  Can colour and noise influence man's thermal comfort? , 1977, Ergonomics.

[24]  D Kromhout,et al.  Heart rate variability from short electrocardiographic recordings predicts mortality from all causes in middle-aged and elderly men. The Zutphen Study. , 1997, American journal of epidemiology.

[25]  P A Hancock,et al.  Combined effects of heat and noise on human performance: a review. , 1985, American Industrial Hygiene Association journal.

[26]  T. Mikako,et al.  Biomedical Research , 2007 .

[27]  J. Hartikainen,et al.  Effect of acute carbon monoxide exposure on heart rate variability in patients with coronary artery disease * , 2003, Clinical physiology and functional imaging.

[28]  H. Losse,et al.  Sympathikotonie und Parasympathikotonie1 , 1955 .

[29]  S. Wiens,et al.  Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise , 2010, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[30]  Peter Nickel,et al.  Sensitivity and Diagnosticity of the 0.1-Hz Component of Heart Rate Variability as an Indicator of Mental Workload , 2003, Hum. Factors.

[31]  Ulrich Rs,et al.  Effects of interior design on wellness: theory and recent scientific research. , 1991 .

[32]  R. Furchgott,et al.  Endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation involving cyclic GMP: relaxation induced by nitric oxide, carbon monoxide and light. , 1991, Blood vessels.

[33]  Y. Z. Ider,et al.  Model based and experimental investigation of respiratory effect on the HRV power spectrum , 2006, Physiological measurement.

[34]  Peter Jönsson,et al.  Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a function of state anxiety in healthy individuals. , 2007, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[35]  Tom Hollenstein,et al.  Sympathetic and parasympathetic responses to social stress across adolescence. , 2012, Developmental psychobiology.

[36]  J Schwartz,et al.  Traffic related pollution and heart rate variability in a panel of elderly subjects , 2005, Thorax.

[37]  S. Bacon,et al.  Improvements in heart rate variability with exercise therapy. , 2010, The Canadian journal of cardiology.

[38]  Jan Kleissl,et al.  Effect of hilly urban morphology on dispersion in the urban boundary layer , 2012 .

[39]  C. Zerefos,et al.  Climatology of Discomfort Index and Air Quality Index in a Large Urban Mediterranean Agglomeration , 2011 .

[40]  David Briggs,et al.  Personal exposure to particulate air pollution in transport microenvironments , 2004 .

[41]  Manfred S. Green,et al.  Acute and chronic effects of noise exposure on blood pressure and heart rate among industrial employees: the Cordis Study. , 1995, Archives of environmental health.

[42]  A. Chaloulakou,et al.  Exposure to carbon monoxide in the Athens urban area during commuting. , 2003, The Science of the total environment.

[43]  Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen,et al.  Fine particle (PM2.5) personal exposure levels in transport microenvironments, London, UK. , 2001, The Science of the total environment.

[44]  M. Rashid,et al.  A Review of the Empirical Literature on the Relationships Between Indoor Environment and Stress in Health Care and Office Settings , 2008 .

[45]  Erik Johansson,et al.  The influence of urban design on outdoor thermal comfort in the hot, humid city of Colombo, Sri Lanka , 2006, International journal of biometeorology.

[46]  P. Fanger,et al.  A Comparative Study Of Discomfort Caused By Indoor Air Pollution, Thermal Load And Noisec , 1993 .

[47]  L. Naeher,et al.  Personal PM2.5 Exposure Among Wildland Firefighters Working at Prescribed Forest Burns in Southeastern United States , 2011, Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene.

[48]  Victor Candas,et al.  Thermal comfort: multisensory interactions? , 2005, Journal of physiological anthropology and applied human science.

[49]  Kristin M. Ferguson,et al.  The Girl Child , 2009 .

[50]  P. Höppe,et al.  The physiological equivalent temperature – a universal index for the biometeorological assessment of the thermal environment , 1999, International journal of biometeorology.

[51]  J. Thayer,et al.  Daily worry is related to low heart rate variability during waking and the subsequent nocturnal sleep period. , 2007, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[52]  V. Candas,et al.  Effects of steady-state noise and temperature conditions on environmental perception and acceptability. , 2004, Indoor air.

[53]  A. Matzarakis,et al.  Assessment of the microclimatic and human comfort conditions in a complex urban environment: Modelling and measurements , 2006 .

[54]  P O Fanger,et al.  Impact of indoor air temperature and humidity in an office on perceived air quality, SBS symptoms and performance. , 2004, Indoor air.

[55]  Manabu Tanigawa,et al.  Effects of pair housing on diurnal rhythms of heart rate and heart rate variability in miniature swine. , 2004, Experimental animals.

[56]  William J. Fisk,et al.  WORKER PERFORMANCE AND VENTILATION: ANALYSES OF INDIVIDUAL DATA FOR CALL-CENTER WORKERS , 2002 .

[57]  J. Koolhaas,et al.  Effects of social stress on heart rate and heart rate variability in growing pigs , 2000 .

[58]  T. Mano,et al.  Effect of skin sympathetic response to local or systemic cold exposure on thermoregulatory functions in humans , 2001, Autonomic Neuroscience.