Association of exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk in adult NHANES participants (2001-2008)

Arvind Dabass; Evelyn O Talbott; Arvind Venkat; Judith Rager; Gary M Marsh; Ravi K Sharma; Fernando Holguin

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.12.002

Association of exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk in adult NHANES participants (2001-2008)

Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2016 May;219(3):301-10. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.12.002. Epub 2015 Dec 12.

Authors

Arvind Dabass¹, Evelyn O Talbott², Arvind Venkat³, Judith Rager¹, Gary M Marsh⁴, Ravi K Sharma⁵, Fernando Holguin⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
² Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States. Electronic address: eot1@pitt.edu.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
⁵ Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
⁶ Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

PMID: 26725170
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.12.002

Abstract

Background and objectives: Exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) has been associated with increased cardiovascular outcomes, mediated by a hypothesized biological mechanism of systemic inflammation and oxidation. Although PM10 has been linked to inflammatory markers in a nationally representative sample (NHANES) using data from earlier cycles (1989-1994); no study has considered these relationships for PM2.5 in more recent time periods. We examined the association of ambient PM2.5 exposure and inflammatory markers in adult NHANES participants for cycles 2001-2008.

Methods: We linked each of the adult NHANES participant's address with meteorological and modeled air pollution data for each census tract in conterminous United States. The effects of short and long term PM2.5 on C-reactive protein, white blood cells, fibrinogen and homocysteine were analyzed using multiple linear regression, adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, temperature and ozone. SAS SURVEYREG was used to account for the complex survey design of NHANES.

Results: In the overall population, no significant positive associations were noted for either short or long term PM2.5 exposures for any of the biomarkers after controlling for confounders. However, stronger associations were found among obese, diabetics, hypertensive and smokers. For every 10μg/m(3) increase in PM2.5, there was an increase of (a) 36.9% (95% CI: 0.1%, 87.2%) in CRP at annual average PM2.5 (adjusting for short term exposure) among diabetics (b) 2.6% (95% CI: 0.1%, 5.1%) in homocysteine at lag 0 among smokers.

Conclusions: In a nationally representative sample of individuals we noted no overall association between PM2.5 and biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. However, sensitive subgroups manifested increases in these markers to PM2.5 exposure. Further studies should concentrate on the impact of PM2.5 on these biomarkers in those with multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

Keywords: Air pollution; Biomarkers; Cardiovascular disease; PM2.5.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adult
Air Pollutants / analysis*
Biomarkers / blood
C-Reactive Protein / analysis
Cardiovascular Diseases / blood*
Cardiovascular Diseases / epidemiology*
Environmental Exposure
Female
Fibrinogen / analysis
Homocysteine / blood
Humans
Leukocyte Count
Male
Middle Aged
Nutrition Surveys
Ozone / analysis
Particulate Matter / analysis
Risk Factors
United States
Young Adult

Substances

Air Pollutants
Biomarkers
Particulate Matter
Homocysteine
Ozone
Fibrinogen
C-Reactive Protein

Grants and funding

EPHT-200-2010-37443-00004/PHS HHS/United States