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Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown a consistent association between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and adverse health effects. In particular, exposure can be high for cyclists who travel near roadways. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between short-term expos...

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Autores principales: Park, Hye-Youn, Gilbreath, Susan, Barakatt, Edward
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299642/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28179003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12940-017-0212-x
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author Park, Hye-Youn
Gilbreath, Susan
Barakatt, Edward
author_facet Park, Hye-Youn
Gilbreath, Susan
Barakatt, Edward
author_sort Park, Hye-Youn
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Studies have shown a consistent association between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and adverse health effects. In particular, exposure can be high for cyclists who travel near roadways. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between short-term exposure of near-road traffic emissions and acute changes in lung function among individuals who frequently bike in the Sacramento and Davis areas in California. Ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) was used as a surrogate for near-roadway exposure in this study since the main source of this pollutant is from motor vehicle exhaust. METHODS: Thirty-two bicyclists were recruited and completed two rides on separate days during the study period of March-June, 2008. One ride was on a high traffic route paralleling a section of Interstate 80 (I-80)/Interstate Business 80 (I-80B), and a second one was on a low traffic route, such as bike paths away from major highways. The participant’s lung function was measured before and after each ride, and UFPM exposure was measured during the rides using a condensation particle counter (CPC). RESULTS: In the final linear mixed-effect model using median UFPM concentrations as the main exposure, we observed that lung function change (post–ride minus baseline measurements) shifted in the negative direction. Lung function changed by 216 mL for FVC and 168 mL for FEV(1), respectively, for an interquartile range (IQR: 12,225 to 36,833 number of particles/cm(3)) increase of UFPM concentration after adjusting for other covariates of age, sex, wind direction, and day of the week. CONCLUSIONS: This study found significant associations between increased levels of UFPM concentrations as a proxy for near road traffic pollution, and decrements in lung function measurements. Our results are related to short-term exposures, and the long-term health effects of cycling near heavy traffic require further research. Our study suggests the need to reduce traffic pollution, particularly near roads. Cyclists should plan their route to reduce their exposure where possible and further research on built environment designs may help urban planners to reduce the potential health concerns of cyclists’ exposure to traffic-related air pollution. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-017-0212-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-52996422017-02-13 Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists Park, Hye-Youn Gilbreath, Susan Barakatt, Edward Environ Health Research BACKGROUND: Studies have shown a consistent association between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and adverse health effects. In particular, exposure can be high for cyclists who travel near roadways. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between short-term exposure of near-road traffic emissions and acute changes in lung function among individuals who frequently bike in the Sacramento and Davis areas in California. Ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) was used as a surrogate for near-roadway exposure in this study since the main source of this pollutant is from motor vehicle exhaust. METHODS: Thirty-two bicyclists were recruited and completed two rides on separate days during the study period of March-June, 2008. One ride was on a high traffic route paralleling a section of Interstate 80 (I-80)/Interstate Business 80 (I-80B), and a second one was on a low traffic route, such as bike paths away from major highways. The participant’s lung function was measured before and after each ride, and UFPM exposure was measured during the rides using a condensation particle counter (CPC). RESULTS: In the final linear mixed-effect model using median UFPM concentrations as the main exposure, we observed that lung function change (post–ride minus baseline measurements) shifted in the negative direction. Lung function changed by 216 mL for FVC and 168 mL for FEV(1), respectively, for an interquartile range (IQR: 12,225 to 36,833 number of particles/cm(3)) increase of UFPM concentration after adjusting for other covariates of age, sex, wind direction, and day of the week. CONCLUSIONS: This study found significant associations between increased levels of UFPM concentrations as a proxy for near road traffic pollution, and decrements in lung function measurements. Our results are related to short-term exposures, and the long-term health effects of cycling near heavy traffic require further research. Our study suggests the need to reduce traffic pollution, particularly near roads. Cyclists should plan their route to reduce their exposure where possible and further research on built environment designs may help urban planners to reduce the potential health concerns of cyclists’ exposure to traffic-related air pollution. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-017-0212-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2017-02-08 /pmc/articles/PMC5299642/ /pubmed/28179003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12940-017-0212-x Text en © The Author(s). 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research
Park, Hye-Youn
Gilbreath, Susan
Barakatt, Edward
Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
title Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
title_full Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
title_fullStr Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
title_full_unstemmed Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
title_short Respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
title_sort respiratory outcomes of ultrafine particulate matter (ufpm) as a surrogate measure of near-roadway exposures among bicyclists
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299642/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28179003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12940-017-0212-x
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