ZPH, Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Mar 4;16(5):788. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16050788.
Panel studies are an efficient means to assess short-term effects of air pollution and other time-varying environmental exposures. Repeated examinations of volunteers allow for an in-depth analysis of physiological responses supporting the biological interpretation of environmental impacts. Twenty-four healthy students walked for 1 h at a minimum of four separate occasions under each of the following four settings: along a busy road, along a busy road wearing ear plugs, in a park, and in a park but exposed to traffic noise (65 dB) through headphones. Particle mass (PM, PM₁), particle number, and noise levels were measured throughout each walk. Lung function and exhaled nitrogen oxide (NO) were measured before, immediately after, 1 h after, and approximately 24 h after each walk. Blood pressure and heart rate variability were measured every 15 min during each walk. Recorded air pollution levels were found to correlate with reduced lung function. The effects were clearly significant for end-expiratory flows and remained visible up to 24 h after exposure. While immediate increases in airway resistance could be interpreted as protective (muscular) responses to particulate air pollution, the persisting effects indicate an induced inflammatory reaction. Noise levels reduced systolic blood pressure and heart rate variability. Maybe due to the small sample size, no effects were visible per specific setting (road vs. park).
队列研究是评估空气污染和其他随时间变化的环境暴露短期影响的有效手段。对志愿者进行重复检查可以深入分析支持环境影响生物学解释的生理反应。24 名健康学生在以下四种环境下，每种环境下至少要分别行走 4 次，每次行走 1 小时：在繁忙的道路上行走、在繁忙的道路上戴耳塞行走、在公园中行走、在公园中行走但通过耳机暴露于交通噪音（65 分贝）下。在每次行走过程中测量颗粒物质量（PM、PM₁）、颗粒物数量和噪声水平。在每次行走前后 1 小时和大约 24 小时后测量肺功能和呼出的一氧化氮（NO）。在每次行走过程中，每 15 分钟测量一次血压和心率变异性。记录的空气污染水平与肺功能降低相关。这些影响对于呼气末流量明显显著，暴露后 24 小时仍可见。虽然气道阻力的即时增加可以解释为对颗粒物空气污染的保护性（肌肉）反应，但持续的影响表明存在诱导的炎症反应。噪声水平降低了收缩压和心率变异性。可能由于样本量较小，每种环境（道路与公园）都没有可见的影响。
