Indoor Air Pollution and Blood Pressure in Adult Women Living in Rural China

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives 2011-10, Vol.119 (10), p.1390-1395
• Main Authors: Baumgartner, Jill, Schauer, James J., Ezzati, Majid, Lu, Lin, Cheng, Chun, Patz, Jonathan A., Bautista, Leonelo E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age groups; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Air; Air pollution; Air Pollution, Indoor - adverse effects; Biofuels; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure - drug effects; China; Environment. Living conditions; Environmental aspects; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental pollutants toxicology; Exercise; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Hypertension; Indoor air pollution; Measurement; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Particulate matter; Particulate Matter - toxicity; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk Factors; Solid fuels; Sparsely populated areas; Toxicology; Winter; Women
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1003371

Background: Almost half of the world's population uses coal and biomass fuels for domestic energy. Limited evidence suggests that exposure to air pollutants from indoor biomass combustion may be associated with elevated blood pressure (BP). Objective: Our aim was to assess the relationship between air pollution exposure from indoor biomass combustion and BP in women in rural China. Methods: We measured 24-hr personal integrated gravimetric exposure to fine particles < 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) and systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) in the winter and summer among 280 women ≥ 25 years of age living in rural households using biomass fuels in Yunnan, China. We investigated the association between PM2.5 exposure and SBP and DBP using mixed-effects models with random intercepts to account for correlation among repeated measures. Results: Personal average 24-hr exposure to PM2.5 ranged from 22 to 634 μg/m³ in winter and from 9 to 492 μg/m³ in summer. A 1-log-μg/m³ increase in PM2.5 exposure was associated with 2.2 mm Hg higher SBP [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.8 to 3.7; p = 0.003] and 0.5 mm Hg higher DBP (95% CI, -0.4 to 1.3; p = 0.31) among all women; estimated effects varied by age group. Among women > 50 years of age, a 1-log-μg/m³ increase in PM2.5 exposure was associated with 4.1 mm Hg higher SBP (95% CI, 1.5 to 6.6; p = 0.002) and 1.8 mm Hg higher DBP (95% CI, 0.4 to 3.2; p = 0.01). PM2.5 exposure was positively associated with SBP among younger women, but the association was not statistically significant. Conclusion: PM2.5 exposure from biomass combustion may be a risk factor for elevated BP and hence for cardiovascular events. Our findings should be corroborated in longitudinal studies.