title: Arterial blood pressure responses to short-term exposure to low and high traffic-related air pollution with and without moderate physical activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Short-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) has been associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Physical activity (PA) in polluted air may increase pollutant uptake and increase these effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Crossover real-world exposure study in 28 healthy participants comparing systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) responses to four different exposure scenarios: 2 h exposure in high or low-TRAP environment, each at rest and combined with intermittent moderate PA consisting of 15 min intervals alternating rest and cycling on a stationary bicycle. Data was analyzed using mixed effect models for repeated measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exposure to high TRAP was associated with higher DBP (1.1 mm/Hg, p = 0.002) post-exposure, irrespective of exercise status. Ultrafine particles (UFP) increased DBP post-exposure (0.9 mm/Hg, p = 0.004). Interquartile increases in black carbon (BC), fine particulate matter (PM10 and PMcoarse), UFP, and nitric oxides (NOx) were associated with statistically significantly higher SBP post-exposure (1.2, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.1 mm/Hg, respectively). Intermittent PA compared with rest was associated with lower SBP post-exposure (-2.4 mm/Hg, p < 0.001). PA lowered SBP more after exposure to the low-TRAP site (-2.3 mm/Hg) compared with the high-TRAP site (-1.6 mm/Hg). We only found evidence of an interaction between PA and both PM10 and PMcoarse, increasing SBP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both SBP and DBP increase after exposure to TRAP. Intermittent PA attenuates the TRAP-related increases in SBP, with the exception of PM10 and PMcoarse, which potentiate these increases. We showed that in low-TRAP environments intermittent PA has stronger beneficial effects on SBP than in high-TRAP environments.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain nkubesch@creal.cat.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kubesch
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Nazelle
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain Arizona Respiratory Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.affiliation: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Westerdahl
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bouso
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carrasco-Turigas
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf and IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Nieuwenhuijsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D062186:Arterial Pressure / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
keywords: Blood pressure; cycling; particulate matter; physical activity; short-term exposure; traffic-related air pollution