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In polluted cities, indoor air purifiers yield cardiopulmonary benefits
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A short-term indoor air purifier intervention was associated with cardiopulmonary benefits among young, healthy adults in a Chinese city with severe air pollution, according to a new report.
Researchers conducted a randomized, double blind, crossover trial that included 35 healthy college students living in dormitories at Fudan University in Shanghai in 2014.
In one group, students living in five dormitory rooms were randomly assigned to exposure to an air purifier placed in the center of the room for 48 hours, followed by a 2-week washout period. The air purifier was then replaced by a sham purifier for another 48 hours. In the second group, students living in five other dormitory rooms were exposed to an air purifier and sham purifier in reverse order. None of the students were smokers, and all were required to stay in the dormitories with closed doors and windows for the duration of each 48-hour intervention period.
After each 48-hour period, the researchers took blood samples and tested the students for 14 circulating biomarkers of inflammation, coagulation and vasoconstriction, as well as lung function, BP and fractional exhaled nitrous oxide.
According to the results, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration decreased by 57% after the air purification intervention, from 96.2 µg/m3 to 41.3 µg/m3. Use of the air purifier also was linked to significant reduction in inflammatory and thrombogenic biomarkers: a 68.1% decrease in interleukin-1 beta, 64.9% decrease in soluble CD40 ligands, 32.8% decrease in myeloperoxidase and 17.5% decrease in monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. The researchers also observed a 17% reduction in fractional exhaled nitrous oxide, 4.8% reduction in diastolic BP and 2.7% reduction in systolic BP after the air purification intervention. Although lung function and vasoconstriction were positively affected by air purification, the changes were not significant.
Future exploration of the benefits of air purification in populations susceptible to the effects of ambient air pollution is warranted, according to the researchers.
“Future studies should further evaluate the potential health benefits of long-term air purification among more vulnerable populations, such as children, older adults or people with cardiopulmonary diseases,” they wrote. – by Jennifer Byrne
Disclosure: Chen reports receiving support from the intramural research program of the U.S. NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
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