Indoor Air quality and cardiovascular effects in the Taiwanese general population: Generalized additive mixed models analysis

While the effects of air pollution exposure on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are well documented, the underlying mechanisms linking indoor air quality to cardiovascular diseases are largely unknown. In order to investigate changes in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) associated with changes in exposure to indoor air pollution, we conducted nonlinear time series analysis of BP, HR and indoor air quality from the survey of health and living status of the general population in Taiwan. Associations of daily averaged indoor air pollutants [particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters <10 μm (PM ₁₀), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 μm (PM_2.5), total volatile compounds (VOCs) and carbon dioxide (CO ₂)] with systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and HR were explored by applying generalized additive mixed models. After controlling for potential confounders, we observed that increased hourly averaged indoor PM_2.5 was associated with elevated SBP, DBP and HR. Associations of increased hourly averaged total VOCs with elevated SBP and HR were also observed. We concluded that changes in BP and HR are associated with exposure to indoor air pollutants in the Taiwanese general population.