Does your commute give you high blood pressure? It might be the traffic pollution
Air that’s polluted by traffic exhaust can spike people’s blood pressure sharply almost as soon as they begin traveling, according to a study that monitored people in real time on busy roadways.
Air that’s polluted by traffic exhaust can spike people’s blood pressure sharply almost as soon as they begin traveling, according to a study that monitored people in real time on busy roadways.
The findings — published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine — suggests that roadway pollution not only poses risks that build up over time, but also that it prompts near-immediate changes to people’s physiology. The study provides some evidence that suggests sitting in traffic could help trigger medical conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, though more research is needed to establish clear links.
The study is the first to measure both pollution and its effect on blood pressure in real time from inside a vehicle as it travels. Researchers monitored both measures dozens of times through traffic in Seattle.
“We were surprised by the magnitude of the blood pressure changes, given the small levels of pollution we measured,” said Dr. Joel Kaufman, a University of Washington professor of medicine, epidemiology and environmental health sciences and an author of the study.
The study’s results include the data of just 13 people, but it adds to a long list of research outlining growing concerns about the health dangers of pollution on U.S. roadways, mostly from tailpipe emissions and wear on tires.
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