• Kateryna B Fuks, Gudrun Weinmayr, Xavier Basagaña, Olena Gruzieva, Regina Hampel, Bente Oftedal, Mette Sørensen, Kathrin Wolf, Geir Aamodt, Gunn Marit Aasvang, Inmaculada Aguilera, Thomas Becker, Rob Beelen, Bert Brunekreef, Barbara Caracciolo, Josef Cyrys, Roberto Elosua, Eriksen Kirsten Thorup KT Diet Genes Environment Unit, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark., Maria Foraster, Laura Fratiglioni, Agneta Hilding, Danny Houthuijs, Michal Korek, Nino Künzli, Jaume Marrugat, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Claes-Göran Östenson, Johanna Penell, Göran Pershagen, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Swart Wim J R WJR National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, the Netherlands., Annette Peters, and Barbara Hoffmann.
• Environmental Epidemiology Group, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Center for Health and Society, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf, University Hospital of Düsseldorf, AG Umweltepidemiologie, P.O. Box 101007, 40001 Düsseldorf, Germany.
• Eur. Heart J. 2017 Apr 1; 38 (13): 983-990.

AimsWe investigated whether traffic-related air pollution and noise are associated with incident hypertension in European cohorts.Methods And ResultsWe included seven cohorts of the European study of cohorts for air pollution effects (ESCAPE). We modelled concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), ≤10 µm (PM10), >2.5, and ≤10 µm (PMcoarse), soot (PM2.5 absorbance), and nitrogen oxides at the addresses of participants with land use regression. Residential exposure to traffic noise was modelled at the facade according to the EU Directive 2002/49/EC. We assessed hypertension as (i) self-reported and (ii) measured (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg or intake of BP lowering medication (BPLM). We used Poisson regression with robust variance estimation to analyse associations of traffic-related exposures with incidence of hypertension, controlling for relevant confounders, and combined the results from individual studies with random-effects meta-analysis. Among 41 072 participants free of self-reported hypertension at baseline, 6207 (15.1%) incident cases occurred within 5-9 years of follow-up. Incidence of self-reported hypertension was positively associated with PM2.5 (relative risk (RR) 1.22 [95%-confidence interval (CI):1.08; 1.37] per 5 µg/m³) and PM2.5 absorbance (RR 1.13 [95% CI:1.02; 1.24] per 10 - 5m - 1). These estimates decreased slightly upon adjustment for road traffic noise. Road traffic noise was weakly positively associated with the incidence of self-reported hypertension. Among 10 896 participants at risk, 3549 new cases of measured hypertension occurred. We found no clear associations with measured hypertension.ConclusionLong-term residential exposures to air pollution and noise are associated with increased incidence of self-reported hypertension.Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

33 keywords...

hide…