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A controlled trial of acute effects of human exposure to traffic particles on pulmonary oxidative stress and heart rate variability.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Laumbach, RJ; Kipen, HM; Ko, S; Kelly-McNeil, K; Cepeda, C; Pettit, A; Ohman-Strickland, P; Zhang, L; Zhang, J; Gong, J; Veleeparambil, M; Gow, AJ
Published in: Particle and fibre toxicology
November 2014

For many individuals, daily commuting activities on roadways account for a substantial proportion of total exposure, as well as peak-level exposures, to traffic-related air pollutants (TRAPS) including ultrafine particles, but the health impacts of these exposures are not well-understood. We sought to determine if exposure to TRAPs particles during commuting causes acute oxidative stress in the respiratory tract or changes in heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic activity.We conducted a randomized, cross-over trial in which twenty-one young adults took two 1.5-hr rides in a passenger vehicle in morning rush-hour traffic. The subjects wore a powered-air-purifying respirator, and were blinded to high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration during one of the rides. At time points before and after the rides, we measured HRV and markers of oxidative stress in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) including nitrite, the sum of nitrite and nitrate, malondialdehyde, and 8-isoprostane. We used mixed linear models to evaluate the effect of exposure on EBC and HRV outcomes, adjusting for pre-exposure response levels. We used linear models to examine the effects of particle concentrations on EBC outcomes at post-exposure time points.Mean EBC nitrite and the sum of nitrite and nitrate were increased from baseline at immediately post-exposure comparing unfiltered to filtered rides (2.11 μM vs 1.70 μM, p = 0.02 and 19.1 μM vs 10.0 μM, p = 0.02, respectively). Mean EBC malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were about 10% greater following the unfiltered vs. filtered exposures, although this result was not statistically significant. We found no significant associations between exposure to traffic particles and HRV outcomes at any of the time points. At immediately post-exposure, an interquartile range increase in particle number concentration was associated with statistically significant increases in nitrite (99.4%, 95% CI 32.1% to 166.7%) and nitrite + nitrate (75.7%, 95% CI 21.5% to 130.0%).Increases in markers of oxidative stress in EBC may represent early biological responses to widespread exposures to TRAPs particles that affect passengers in vehicles on heavily trafficked roadways.

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Published In

Particle and fibre toxicology

DOI

EISSN

1743-8977

ISSN

1743-8977

Publication Date

November 2014

Volume

11

Start / End Page

45

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Vehicle Emissions
  • Toxicology
  • Single-Blind Method
  • Respiratory Mucosa
  • Particulate Matter
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Nitrites
  • Nitrates
  • New Jersey
 

Citation

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Laumbach, R. J., Kipen, H. M., Ko, S., Kelly-McNeil, K., Cepeda, C., Pettit, A., … Gow, A. J. (2014). A controlled trial of acute effects of human exposure to traffic particles on pulmonary oxidative stress and heart rate variability. Particle and Fibre Toxicology, 11, 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-014-0045-5
Laumbach, Robert J., Howard M. Kipen, Susan Ko, Kathie Kelly-McNeil, Clarimel Cepeda, Ashley Pettit, Pamela Ohman-Strickland, et al. “A controlled trial of acute effects of human exposure to traffic particles on pulmonary oxidative stress and heart rate variability.Particle and Fibre Toxicology 11 (November 2014): 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-014-0045-5.
Laumbach RJ, Kipen HM, Ko S, Kelly-McNeil K, Cepeda C, Pettit A, et al. A controlled trial of acute effects of human exposure to traffic particles on pulmonary oxidative stress and heart rate variability. Particle and fibre toxicology. 2014 Nov;11:45.
Laumbach, Robert J., et al. “A controlled trial of acute effects of human exposure to traffic particles on pulmonary oxidative stress and heart rate variability.Particle and Fibre Toxicology, vol. 11, Nov. 2014, p. 45. Epmc, doi:10.1186/s12989-014-0045-5.
Laumbach RJ, Kipen HM, Ko S, Kelly-McNeil K, Cepeda C, Pettit A, Ohman-Strickland P, Zhang L, Zhang J, Gong J, Veleeparambil M, Gow AJ. A controlled trial of acute effects of human exposure to traffic particles on pulmonary oxidative stress and heart rate variability. Particle and fibre toxicology. 2014 Nov;11:45.
Journal cover image

Published In

Particle and fibre toxicology

DOI

EISSN

1743-8977

ISSN

1743-8977

Publication Date

November 2014

Volume

11

Start / End Page

45

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Vehicle Emissions
  • Toxicology
  • Single-Blind Method
  • Respiratory Mucosa
  • Particulate Matter
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Nitrites
  • Nitrates
  • New Jersey