- Traffic-related air pollution was associated with a significant increase in blood pressure among car passengers, a study finds.
- Researchers report that the blood pressure increase is on par with other cardiovascular risk factors such as lack of exercise or excessive salt intake.
- Experts note that cabin air filters and other filtration devices, including masks, can lower exposure to dangerous air pollution particles.
People wearing masks while driving alone in their cars may not be so foolish after all.
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The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reports that riding in automobiles and breathing unfiltered air was associated with a 4.5 mm Hg increase in blood pressure.
The blood pressure increase from exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) was found to peak within 60 minutes and persist for up to 24 hours, according to researchers from the University of Washington.
Dr. Joel Kaufman, a study corresponding editor and a University of Washington professor, epidemiologist, and environmental health expert, told Medical News Today:
“Traffic-related air pollution, even at levels now considered low, appears to cause a substantial increase in blood pressure. This is an effect of breathing traffic-related particles since it was not from the stress of being in a car, driving a car, or noise; the study design is able to account for all those things by using sham filtration vs real filtration, and the subjects were passengers and not drivers.”
Dr. John Higgins, a sports cardiologist at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston who was not involved in the study, told MNT the study findings suggest that daily commuters breathing unfiltered highway air pollution could be experiencing dangerously elevated blood pressure throughout the workweek and perhaps even more if they…
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