Using Indoor Air Filters Near Busy Highways Can Reduce Blood Pressure
The big idea
For people living near busy highways, using air filters indoors results in short-term improvements to blood pressure, according to a new study I co-authored.
Busy highways are large sources of air pollution. Larry D. Moore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Next to busy highways and major roadways, there are high concentrations of air pollution – including exceptionally tiny, invisible and odorless ultrafine particles from burning fuel. My colleagues Neelakshi Hudda, Misha Eliasziw and I tested how using air filters indoors near a highway can reduce exposure to ultrafine and other particulate pollutants – and what effect that has on blood pressure.
Our team tested 77 participants over three two-hour sessions in a room next to a busy highway. We manipulated the level of air pollu...