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      The relation between past exposure to fine particulate air pollution and prevalent anxiety: observational cohort study

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          Abstract

          Objective To determine whether higher past exposure to particulate air pollution is associated with prevalent high symptoms of anxiety.

          Design Observational cohort study.

          Setting Nurses’ Health Study.

          Participants 71 271 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study residing throughout the contiguous United States who had valid estimates on exposure to particulate matter for at least one exposure period of interest and data on anxiety symptoms.

          Main outcome measures Meaningfully high symptoms of anxiety, defined as a score of 6 points or greater on the phobic anxiety subscale of the Crown-Crisp index, administered in 2004.

          Results The 71 271 eligible women were aged between 57 and 85 years (mean 70 years) at the time of assessment of anxiety symptoms, with a prevalence of high anxiety symptoms of 15%. Exposure to particulate matter was characterized using estimated average exposure to particulate matter <2.5 μm in diameter (PM 2.5) and 2.5 to 10 μm in diameter (PM 2.5-10) in the one month, three months, six months, one year, and 15 years prior to assessment of anxiety symptoms, and residential distance to the nearest major road two years prior to assessment. Significantly increased odds of high anxiety symptoms were observed with higher exposure to PM 2.5 for multiple averaging periods (for example, odds ratio per 10 µg/m 3 increase in prior one month average PM 2.5: 1.12, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.19; in prior 12 month average PM 2.5: 1.15, 1.06 to 1.26). Models including multiple exposure windows suggested short term averaging periods were more relevant than long term averaging periods. There was no association between anxiety and exposure to PM 2.5-10. Residential proximity to major roads was not related to anxiety symptoms in a dose dependent manner.

          Conclusions Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) was associated with high symptoms of anxiety, with more recent exposures potentially more relevant than more distant exposures. Research evaluating whether reductions in exposure to ambient PM 2.5 would reduce the population level burden of clinically relevant symptoms of anxiety is warranted.

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          Most cited references78

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          Concentration and size distribution of ultrafine particles near a major highway.

          Motor vehicle emissions usually constitute the most significant source of ultrafine particles (diameter <0.1 microm) in an urban environment, yet little is known about the concentration and size distribution of ultrafine particles in the vicinity of major highways. In the present study, particle number concentration and size distribution in the size range from 6 to 220 nm were measured by a condensation particle counter (CPC) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), respectively. Measurements were taken 30, 60, 90, 150, and 300 m downwind, and 300 m upwind, from Interstate 405 at the Los Angeles National Cemetery. At each sampling location, concentrations of CO, black carbon (BC), and particle mass were also measured by a Dasibi CO monitor, an aethalometer, and a DataRam, respectively. The range of average concentration of CO, BC, total particle number, and mass concentration at 30 m was 1.7-2.2 ppm, 3.4-10.0 microg/m3, 1.3-2.0 x 10(5)/cm3, and 30.2-64.6 microg/m3, respectively. For the conditions of these measurements, relative concentrations of CO, BC, and particle number tracked each other well as distance from the freeway increased. Particle number concentration (6-220 nm) decreased exponentially with downwind distance from the freeway. Data showed that both atmospheric dispersion and coagulation contributed to the rapid decrease in particle number concentration and change in particle size distribution with increasing distance from the freeway. Average traffic flow during the sampling periods was 13,900 vehicles/hr. Ninety-three percent of vehicles were gasoline-powered cars or light trucks. The measured number concentration tracked traffic flow well. Thirty meters downwind from the freeway, three distinct ultrafine modes were observed with geometric mean diameters of 13, 27, and 65 nm. The smallest mode, with a peak concentration of 1.6 x 10(5)/cm3, disappeared at distances greater than 90 m from the freeway. Ultrafine particle number concentration measured 300 m downwind from the freeway was indistinguishable from upwind background concentration. These data may be used to estimate exposure to ultrafine particles in the vicinity of major highways.
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            Oxidative stress: its role in air pollution and adverse health effects.

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              CIRCULATION

              SS Chugh (1964)
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: postdoctoral fellow
                Role: postdoctoral fellow
                Role: instructor
                Role: assistant professor
                Role: associate professor
                Role: associate professor
                Journal
                BMJ
                BMJ
                bmj
                BMJ : British Medical Journal
                BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
                0959-8138
                1756-1833
                2015
                24 March 2015
                : 350
                : h1111
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA, USA
                [2 ]Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA, USA
                [3 ]Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore MD, USA
                [4 ]Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA
                [5 ]Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA
                Author notes
                Correspondence to: M C Power Johns Hopkins University, Phipps 446D, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA melindacpower@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                powm021549
                10.1136/bmj.h1111
                4373600
                25810495
                22171bfb-acb3-431d-afe8-a91618efd134
                © Power et al 2015

                This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

                History
                : 5 February 2015
                Categories
                Research
                1779

                Medicine
                Medicine

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