The influence of air pollution on cardiovascular and pulmonary function and exercise capacity: Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS)

Background

Air pollution has been associated with adverse cardiovascular effects.

Objective

To measure the association between air pollution, spirometry, blood pressure, and exercise capacity.

Methods

We used data from 5604 subjects collected during the Canada Health Measures Survey to test the association between air pollution measured on the day of the survey and spirometry (n=5011 subjects), blood pressure, and exercise capacity (n=3789 subjects).

Results

An interquartile range (IQR) increase in ozone (17.0 ppb) was significantly associated with a 0.883% higher resting heart rate, a 0.718% higher systolic and 0.407% higher diastolic blood pressure, a 0.393% lower FEV₁/FVC expressed as a percentage of predicted, and a 1.52% reduction in the aerobic fitness score (p<0.05). Resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure were approximately 0.5 mmHg higher for an (IQR 4.5 μg/m³) increase in PM_2.5 (IQR 4.5 μg/m³) and 1 mmHg higher for a 12.6 ppb increase in NO₂ (IQR 12.6 ppb). An increase in PM_2.5 was also associated with an approximate 0.4% decrease in percent predicted FEV₁ and FVC (p<0.05).

Conclusion

Exposure to higher concentrations of air pollution was associated with higher resting blood pressure and lower ventilatory function. Ozone was associated with reduced exercise capacity.