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Acute effects on pulmonary function in young healthy adults exposed to traffic-related air pollution in semi-closed transport hub in Beijing

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Objectives

Transport hub is an important part of urban comprehensive transportation system. Traffic-related air pollution can reach high level because of difficulty of diffusion and increase of emission in transport hub. However, whether exposure in this semi-closed traffic micro-environment causes acute changes in pulmonary function of commuters still needs to be explored.

Methods

Forty young healthy adults participated in this randomized, crossover study. Each participant underwent 2 h exposure in a designated transport hub and, on a separate occasion, in an appointed park. Personal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC) and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were assessed pre-, during and post-exposure. Mixed linear models were used to analyze the pulmonary effects of traffic-related air pollutants.

Results

Participants had significantly higher exposures to PM2.5, BC and CO in the transport hub than in the park. Exposure in transport hub induced significant reductions in FEV1 and PEF compared with the park during exposure 1 and 2 h. The reductions were significant associated with traffic-related air pollutants. For instance, per 10 μg/m3 increment in PM2.5 was associated with −0.15 % (95 % CI −0.28, −0.02 %) reduction in FEV1 during exposure 2 h. However, effects became attenuate after 2 h exposure.

Conclusions

Short-term exposure in transport hub had acute reduction effects on pulmonary function. More attention should be paid to the health effects of exposure in the semi-closed traffic micro-environment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81072267 and 81502780), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2012AA062804), Beijing Excellent Doctorial Dissertations Fund (No. 20131000109), Young Talent Support Program of Peking University School of Public Health and Young Scientists Lift Plan from China Association for Science and Technology. In addition, the authors thank all the volunteers who took part in this study and Dr. Lu Ma (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China) for calibrating the spirometer routinely during the study period.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, Peking University School of Public Health, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China

    Jing Huang, Furong Deng, Shaowei Wu, Yan Zhao, Bin Guo, Qichen Liu & Xinbiao Guo

  2. Department of Public Health, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan

    Masayuki Shima

Authors
  1. Jing Huang
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  2. Furong Deng
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  3. Shaowei Wu
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  4. Yan Zhao
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  5. Masayuki Shima
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  6. Bin Guo
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  7. Qichen Liu
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  8. Xinbiao Guo
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Correspondence to Xinbiao Guo.

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The authors report no declarations of interest. They did not have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Huang, J., Deng, F., Wu, S. et al. Acute effects on pulmonary function in young healthy adults exposed to traffic-related air pollution in semi-closed transport hub in Beijing. Environ Health Prev Med 21, 312–320 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-016-0531-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-016-0531-5

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