Does psychosocial stress modify the association of fine particulate matter and ozone with cardiovascular health indicators?

Qiao Chen; Hongyu Li; Qisijing Liu; Wanzhou Wang; Furong Deng; Zhiwei Sun; Xinbiao Guo; Shaowei Wu

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116726

Does psychosocial stress modify the association of fine particulate matter and ozone with cardiovascular health indicators?

Environ Pollut. 2021 May 15:277:116726. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116726. Epub 2021 Feb 17.

Authors

Qiao Chen¹, Hongyu Li¹, Qisijing Liu¹, Wanzhou Wang¹, Furong Deng¹, Zhiwei Sun², Xinbiao Guo¹, Shaowei Wu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
² Department of Toxicology and Sanitary Chemistry, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China.
³ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China. Electronic address: shaowei_wu@bjmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33639598
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116726

Abstract

Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃) air pollution can cause abnormal changes in blood pressure (BP), blood glucose and lipids, which are important indicators for cardiovascular health. Psychosocial stress could be a potential effect modifier for adverse health effects of air pollution, but research evidence is scarce. A cross-sectional study with 373 elderly subjects was conducted in Beijing during 2018-2019. We collected psychosocial stress information on anxiety, perceived stress and depression, obtained daily environmental data, measured resting BP, blood glucose and lipids in study participants, and analyzed the associations of PM_2.5 or O₃ with cardiovascular health indicators and the modification effect by psychosocial stress. Results showed that PM_2.5 was significantly associated with increased systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and pulse pressure (PP) ; and O₃ was significantly associated with elevated DBP, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and total triglyceride (TG). In addition, the associations of PM_2.5 with TG, and O₃ with SBP and TG were higher in participants with high psychosocial stress, whereas the associations of O₃ with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were higher in participants with low psychosocial stress. For an interquartile range (IQR) (56.8 μg/m³) increase in PM_2.5 at 4-d moving average, TG increased by 21.43% (95% CI: 2.90, 43.29) in high perceived-stress group, and decreased by 20.05% (95% CI: -30.31, -8.28) in low perceived-stress group (p for interaction = 0.04). For an IQR (63.0 μg/m³) increase in O₃ at 2-d moving average, TG increased by 32.01% (95% CI: 7.65, 61.89) in high perceived-stress group, and increased by 7.95% (95% CI: -9.80, 29.20) only in low perceived-stress group (p for interaction = 0.04). For an IQR (64.0 μg/m³) increase in O₃ at 3-d moving average, HDL-C decreased by 4.55% (95% CI: -12.15, 3.72) in high perceived-stress group, and increased by 0.57% (95% CI: -6.99, 8.75) in low perceived-stress group (p for interaction=0.002). In conclusion, our results indicated that short-term exposures to PM_2.5 and O₃ were associated with significant changes in BP, blood glucose and lipids, and psychosocial stress may increase the susceptibility of the participants to the adverse cardiovascular effects of PM_2.5 and O₃.

Keywords: Blood glucose; Blood lipids; Blood pressure; Fine particulate matter; Ozone; Psychosocial stress.

MeSH terms

Aged
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / adverse effects
Air Pollution* / analysis
Beijing
Cross-Sectional Studies
Environmental Exposure / adverse effects
Humans
Ozone* / analysis
Particulate Matter / analysis
Stress, Psychological

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
Ozone