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Cardiovascular Response to Freeway Air: Results of an On-Road Exposure Study
This page updated December 14, 2009
Chair’s Air Pollution Seminar |
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Tuesday, January 12,
2010
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Cardiovascular Response
to Freeway Air:
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William C. Hinds,
Sc.D.
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This seminar
summarizes a 24-month study of human response to two-hour exposures to
freeway air in Southern California. A nine-passenger van was
modified with a high-efficiency filtration system that delivered
filtered or unfiltered air to an exposure chamber inside the van.
State-of-the-art instruments were used to measure concentration and
size distribution of fine and ultrafine particles and the concentration
of other pollutants associated with motor vehicles. Nineteen
volunteer subjects (average age 71 years) rode for two hours each in
filtered and unfiltered air on two freeways, I-405 and I-710.
Double-blind health assessments included 24-hour ambulatory ECG, blood
biochemistry, blood pressure, and lung function. Mean
unfiltered particle number concentration was 107,500 particles/cm3 for
I-710 and 77,800 particles/cm3 for I-405; mean PM-2.5 mass was 51.4 and
44.5 μg/m3 respectively. Filtration reduced particle count
>95% but did not remove gases. Atrial ectopic beat
incidence during and after exposure decreased 20% on average with
filtered air compared to unfiltered air (P<0.05). Individual
responses related most strongly to particle count (P=0.01). Blood
markers NT pro-BNP and VEGF decreased 30% on average in filtered air
compared to unfiltered air (P<0.05). These changes in
blood biomarkers along with increased atrial ectopic beats are
consistent with an increase in arryhthmia associated with exposure to
traffic-related pollutants as seen in other studies. This study
documents a cardiac and vascular response associated with freeway
travel.
William C. Hinds, Sc.D., is a Emeritus Professor in the
Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA School of
Public Health. His primary research interests are fundamental
and applied research related to aerosols (airborne particles) and
industrial control of airborne contaminants including respiratory
protection. Current and recent projects include the
development of a multi-channel cascade impactor for task based exposure
assessment, spatial profiles of ultrafine particles near freeways,
nanoparticle exposure from industrial welding, and assessment of
short-term health effects from exposure to freeway aerosol while
traveling on a freeway. Professor Hinds has more than 100
publications in this field including a standard textbook on aerosol
technology abd is a member in the UCLA Center for Occupational and
Environmental Health. He is a former director of the UCLA
Industrial Hygiene Program, a former director of the Southern
California NIOSH Education and Research Center, and co-director of the
UCLA component of the NIEHS Southern California Environmental Health
Center. Professor Hinds is a member of the EPA Southern
California Particle Center, Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene
Association, and a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) (comprehensive
practice).
For information
on this Series please contact: For
a complete listing of the ARB Chairman's Series and the related
documentation for |
