Acute FeNO and Blood Pressure Responses to Air Pollution Exposure in Young Adults during Physical Activity

During physical exercise, the absorbed dose of air pollutants increases. Acute effects of exposure to air pollutants during exercise in healthy young adults remain poorly documented. The aim of this study was to assess the acute responses in fractionated exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and blood pressure to air pollution exposure during exercise in young adults with different physical activity levels (low or high). In this study, 76 healthy university students participating in physical activity classes (low level of physical activity) and attending sports training (high level of physical activity) completed two indoor exercise trials when air pollutant concentrations were high (exposure trial) and when the quality of the air was good (control trial). We monitored indoor particulate matter with diameter <10 µm and <2.5 µm (PM10 and PM2.5) and outdoor PM10, nitric oxides (NO2, NOx, NO), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation (SpO2), and FeNO were measured at baseline and after 45–60 min of physical activity. There were no significant differences between physiological responses to training performed under different exposure conditions in blood pressure, HR, and SpO2. Significant positive correlations between post-exercise ΔFeNO during exposure trials and ambient air pollutants were found. FeNO increase during the exposure trial was associated with a higher physical activity level and higher outdoor PM10 and NO2 concentrations. In young and healthy adults, some differences in physiological responses to physical activity between polluted and control environments could be observed. Participants with a high physical activity level were more likely to have an increase in FeNO after exercise in a polluted environment but not after the control exercise trials.

The Effects of Outdoor Source on Pollution Characteristics and Dynamic Changes of Particulate Matter in an Office

The indoor air quality has a direct impact on human health. Particulate matter is one of the important factors affecting the indoor air quality. The paper selects an office as the study object and studies the pollution characteristics and dynamic changes of indoor particulate matter in different outdoor pollution levels. The mass concentration of outdoor PM10 is used as the evaluation basis of the outdoor pollution level. The outdoor PM10 concentration levels are divided into the range of 200–300, 300–400, 400–500, 500–600, 600–700 μg·m−3, individually. Firstly, the change characteristics of the mass concentration and the number concentration of the particulate matter in the five outdoor conditions are analyzed. Secondly, the maximum increase values and the maximum increase rates of the mass concentrations of different particle sizes in the five conditions are compared. Then, the penetration factors of the particulates in different sizes are compared among the five conditions. Finally, the correlation between indoor particulate matter and outdoor particulate matter is studied. The study results show that the effect of outdoor infiltration has a great influence on the indoor PM1 mass concentration, and the penetrating factors of the particulate matter between 0.3 μm and 0.5 μm are higher than 0.6; their permeability is the most obvious.