Impact of personal and ambient-level exposures to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter on cardiovascular function

This work explored the association between nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM2.5 components with changes in cardiovascular function in an adult non-smoking cohort. The cohort consisted of 65 volunteers participating in the US EPA's Detroit Exposure and Aerosol Research Study (DEARS) and a University of Michigan cardiovascular sub-study. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), heart rate (HR), brachial artery diameter (BAD), brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and nitroglycerin-mediated arterial dilatation (NMD) were collected by in-home examinations. A maximum of 336 daily environmental and health effect observations were obtained. Daily potassium air concentrations were associated with significant decreases in DBP (-0.0447 mmHg/ng/ m(3) +/- 0.0132, p = 0.0016, lag day 0) among participants compliant with the personal monitoring protocol. Personal NO2 exposures resulted in significant changes in BAD (e.g., 0.0041 mm/ppb +/- 0.0019, p = 0.0353, lag day 1) and FMD (0.0612 +/- 0.0235, p = 0.0103, lag day 0) among other findings.