Short‐Term Effects of Particle Size and Constituents on Blood Pressure in Healthy Young Adults in Guangzhou, China

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have focused on the associations between particle size and constituents and blood pressure, results have been inconsistent. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a panel study, between December 2017 and January 2018, in 88 healthy university students in Guangzhou, China. Weekly systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were measured for each participant for 5 consecutive weeks, resulting in a total of 440 visits. Mass concentrations of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 µm (PM(2.5)), ≤1.0 µm (PM(1.0)), ≤0.5 µm (PM(0.5)), ≤0.2 µm (PM(0.2)), and number concentrations of airborne particulates of diameter ≤0.1 μm were measured. Linear mixed‐effect models were used to estimate the associations between blood pressure and particles and PM(2.5) constituents 0 to 48 hours before blood pressure measurement. PM of all the fractions in the 0.2‐ to 2.5‐μm range were positively associated with systolic blood pressure in the first 24 hours, with the percent changes of effect estimates ranging from 3.5% to 8.8% for an interquartile range increment of PM. PM(0.2) was also positively associated with diastolic blood pressure, with an increase of 5.9% (95% CI, 1.0%–11.0%) for an interquartile range increment (5.8 μg/m(3)) at lag 0 to 24 hours. For PM(2.5) constituents, we found positive associations between chloride and diastolic blood pressure (1.7% [95% CI, 0.1%–3.3%]), and negative associations between vanadium and diastolic blood pressure (−1.6% [95% CI, −3.0% to −0.1%]). CONCLUSIONS: Both particle size and constituent exposure are significantly associated with blood pressure in the first 24 hours following exposure in healthy Chinese adults.