Air Pollution Exposure Laboratory, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Part Fibre Toxicol. 2022 Nov 23;19(1):66. doi: 10.1186/s12989-022-00506-6.
Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure causes adverse effects on wellbeing and quality of life, which can be studied non-invasively using self-reported symptoms. However, little is known about the effects of different TRAP concentrations on symptoms following controlled exposures, where acute responses can be studied with limited confounding. We investigated the concentration-response relationship between diesel exhaust (DE) exposure, as a model TRAP, and self-reported symptoms.
We recruited 17 healthy non-smokers into a double-blind crossover study where they were exposed to filtered air (FA) and DE standardized to 20, 50, 150 µg/m PM for 4 h, with a ≥ 4-week washout between exposures. Immediately before, and at 4 h and 24 h from the beginning of the exposure, we administered visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaires and grouped responses into chest, constitutional, eye, neurological, and nasal categories. Additionally, we assessed how the symptom response was related to exposure perception and airway function.
An increase in DE concentration raised total (β ± standard error = 0.05 ± 0.03, P = 0.04), constitutional (0.01 ± 0.01, P = 0.03) and eye (0.02 ± 0.01, P = 0.05) symptoms at 4 h, modified by perception of temperature, noise, and anxiety. These symptoms were also correlated with airway inflammation. Compared to FA, symptoms were significantly increased at 150 µg/m for the total (8.45 ± 3.92, P = 0.04) and eye (3.18 ± 1.55, P = 0.05) categories, with trends towards higher values in the constitutional (1.49 ± 0.86, P = 0.09) and nasal (1.71 ± 0.96, P = 0.08) categories.
DE exposure induced a concentration-dependent increase in symptoms, primarily in the eyes and body, that was modified by environmental perception. These observations emphasize the inflammatory and sensory effects of TRAP, with a potential threshold below 150 µg/m PM. We demonstrate VAS questionnaires as a useful tool for health monitoring and provide insight into the TRAP concentration-response at exposure levels relevant to public health policy.
交通相关的空气污染（TRAP）暴露对幸福感和生活质量产生不良影响，可以使用自我报告的症状进行非侵入性研究。然而，对于不同的 TRAP 浓度对受控暴露后症状的影响，人们知之甚少，因为在这种情况下可以研究急性反应，并且混杂因素较少。我们研究了柴油废气（DE）暴露与自我报告症状之间的浓度-反应关系，DE 暴露作为一种模型 TRAP。
我们招募了 17 名健康的不吸烟者，进行一项双盲交叉研究，他们在 4 小时内暴露于过滤空气（FA）和 DE 中，DE 浓度标准化为 20、50 和 150μg/m3 PM，两次暴露之间至少有 4 周的洗脱期。在暴露开始前、4 小时和 24 小时，我们使用视觉模拟量表（VAS）问卷，并将反应分为胸部、全身、眼部、神经和鼻部类别。此外，我们评估了症状反应与暴露感知和气道功能的关系。
随着 DE 浓度的增加，总症状（β±标准误差=0.05±0.03，P=0.04）、全身症状（0.01±0.01，P=0.03）和眼部症状（0.02±0.01，P=0.05）在 4 小时时升高，这受到温度、噪音和焦虑感知的调节。这些症状也与气道炎症相关。与 FA 相比，在 150μg/m3 时，总症状（8.45±3.92，P=0.04）和眼部症状（3.18±1.55，P=0.05）显著增加，全身症状（1.49±0.86，P=0.09）和鼻部症状（1.71±0.96，P=0.08）也有增加的趋势。
DE 暴露引起了症状的浓度依赖性增加，主要影响眼睛和身体，这受到环境感知的调节。这些观察结果强调了 TRAP 的炎症和感觉效应，在 150μg/m3 PM 以下可能存在潜在的阈值。我们证明了 VAS 问卷作为健康监测的有用工具，并提供了有关 TRAP 浓度-反应在与公共卫生政策相关的暴露水平下的见解。
