Exposure of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients to particles: respiratory and cardiovascular health effects

ABSTRACT To examine hypotheses regarding air pollution health effects, we conducted an exploratory study to evaluate relationships between personal and ambient concentrations of particles

with measures of cardiopulmonary health in a sample of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Sixteen currently non-smoking COPD patients (mean age=74) residing in

Vancouver were equipped with a particle (PM2.5) monitor for seven 24-h periods. Subjects underwent ambulatory heart monitoring, had their lung function and blood pressure (BP) measured, and

recorded symptoms and medication use. Ambient PM2.5, PM10, sulfate, and gaseous pollutant concentrations were monitored at five sites within the study area. Although no associations between

air pollution and lung function were statistically significant, an estimated effect of 3% and 1% declines in daily FEV1 change (ΔFEV1) for each 10 μg/m3 increase in ambient PM10 and PM2.5,

respectively, was observed. Increases of 1 μg/m3 in personal or ambient sulfate were associated with 1.0% and 0.3% declines in ΔFEV1, respectively. Weak associations were observed between

particle concentrations and increased supraventricular ectopic heartbeats and with decreased systolic BP. No consistent associations were observed between any particle metric and diastolic

BP, heart rate, or heart rate variability (r-MSSD or SDNN), symptom severity, or bronchodilator use. Of the pollutants measured, ambient PM10 was most consistently associated with health

parameters; the use of personal exposures did not improve the strength of any associations or lead to increased effect estimates. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a

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BETWEEN EXPOSURE TO PARTICULATE MATTER AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN VULNERABLE AND SUSCEPTIBLE INDIVIDUALS Article Open access 24 January 2025 LIFESTYLE PRACTICES THAT REDUCE SEASONAL PM2.5

EXPOSURE AND THEIR IMPACT ON COPD Article Open access 21 July 2023 ASSOCIATIONS AMONG AIR POLLUTION, ASTHMA AND LUNG FUNCTION: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY Article Open access 02 April 2025

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109 (Suppl 4) 539–546 CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We extend our sincere thanks to the study subjects who generously and conscientiously

donated 7 days of personal sampling to this project. We would like to thank the Greater Vancouver Regional District Air Quality Department for their assistance with ambient monitoring, and

Parveen Bhatti for technical assistance with the field monitoring and laboratory analysis. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, The

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada MICHAEL BRAUER, STEFANIE T EBELT & TERI V FISHER * Department of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

MICHAEL BRAUER, TERI V FISHER & SVERRE VEDAL * Department of Statistics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada JOCHEN BRUMM & A JOHN PETKAU Authors * MICHAEL BRAUER

View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * STEFANIE T EBELT View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *

TERI V FISHER View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * JOCHEN BRUMM View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar * A JOHN PETKAU View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * SVERRE VEDAL View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to MICHAEL BRAUER. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Supported, in part, by grants from the British Columbia Lung Association, a

British Columbia Lung Association/Medical Research Council of Canada Scientist (M. Brauer), and an American Lung Association Career Investigator Award (M. Brauer). RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS

Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE BRAUER, M., EBELT, S., FISHER, T. _et al._ Exposure of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients to particles: Respiratory

and cardiovascular health effects. _J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol_ 11, 490–500 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500195 Download citation * Received: 23 August 2001 * Published: 07

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pollution * environmental exposure * heart rate * heart rate variability * lung function * particles