ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PERSONAL PM10 EXPOSURE AND PULMONARY FUNCTION IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS FROM A SEMI-ARID CITY ON THE US-MEXICAN BORDER

Resumen

Most studies about associations between exposures to PM₁₀ and decreased pulmonary function do not consider people in good respiratory health and immediate (hours) effects of personal PM₁₀ exposures. This study evaluated associations between personal PM₁₀ exposures and pulmonary function (i.e., forced expiratory volume in one second or FEV₁, forced vital capacity or FVC, and FEV₁/FVC) in 97 healthy adult residents of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Subjects used a personal environmental monitor that sampled PM₁₀ every 5 min during the 24 h of their daily activities. Associations of personal-PM₁₀ and pulmonary function were analyzed using multiple linear and linear-log regressions, with correction of serial autocorrelation, controlling for temperature, relative humidity, age, height, weight, body mass index, gender, and time. The largest statistically significant association was found between PM₁₀ and FEV₁, adjusting for age, height, and gender. FEV₁ decreased –56.0 mL (95% CI: –107.0, –5.0 mL) per each increment of 10 µg/m³ of PM₁₀ in air or –50.0 mL (95% CI: –92.0 mL, –9.0 mL) per each 20% increase in personal-PM₁₀-concentration, when using linear or linear-log regression, respectively. No significant associations were found for FVC or FEV₁/FVC ratio. The study showed that personal PM₁₀ exposure in healthy adult volunteers from Mexicali was associated with small but significant decreases of FEV₁; more significant when assessing the PM₁₀ levels recorded sixteen hours before.