PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anja Viehmann
AU  - Sabine Hertel
AU  - Kateryna Fuks
AU  - Lewin Eisele
AU  - Susanne Moebus
AU  - Stefan Möhlenkamp
AU  - Michael Nonnemacher
AU  - Hermann Jakobs
AU  - Raimund Erbel
AU  - Karl-Heinz Jöckel
AU  - Barbara Hoffmann
TI  - Long-term residential exposure to urban air pollution, and repeated measures of systemic blood markers of inflammation and coagulation
AID  - 10.1136/oemed-2014-102800
DP  - 2015 Sep 01
TA  - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
PG  - 656--663
VI  - 72
IP  - 9
4099  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/72/9/656.short
4100  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/72/9/656.full
SO  - Occup Environ Med2015 Sep 01; 72
AB  - Background In several studies, exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) has been associated with inflammation, with inconsistent results. We used repeated measurements to examine the association of long-term fine and ultrafine particle exposure with several blood markers of inflammation and coagulation.Methods We used baseline (2000–2003) and follow-up (2006–2008) data from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, a German population-based prospective cohort of 4814 participants. A chemistry transport model was applied to model daily surface concentrations of PM air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5) and particle number on a grid of 1 km2. Applying mixed regression models, we analysed associations of long-term (mean of 365 days prior to blood draw) particle exposure at each participant's residence with the level of high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP), fibrinogen, platelet and white cell count (WCC), adjusting for short-term PM exposure (moving averages of 1–7 days), personal characteristics, season, ambient temperature (1–5 days), ozone and time trend.Results We analysed 6488 observations: 3275 participants with baseline data and 3213 with follow-up data. An increase of 2.4 µg/m3 in long-term PM2.5 was associated with an adjusted increase of 5.4% (95% CI 0.6% to 10.5%) in hs-CRP and of 2.3% (95% CI 1.4% to 3.3%) in the platelet count. Fibrinogen and WCC were not associated with long-term particle exposure.Conclusions In this population-based cohort, we found associations of long-term exposure to PM with markers of inflammation (hs-CRP) and coagulation (platelets). This finding supports the hypothesis that inflammatory processes might contribute to chronic effects of air pollution on cardiovascular disease.