A cross-sectional analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and diesel particulate matter exposures and hypertension among individuals of Mexican origin

Background: Epidemiological studies have found that particulate matter is associated with increases in blood pressure. Yet, less is known about the effects of specific sources or constituents of particulate matter, such as diesel particulate matter or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We evaluated associations between self-reported hypertension and residential air levels of diesel particulate matter and PAHs among individuals of Mexican origin living in a large inner city. Methods: The Mano a Mano cohort (established in 2001 by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) is comprised of individuals of Mexican origin residing in Houston, Texas. Using geographical information systems, we linked modeled annual estimates of PAHs and diesel particulate matter at the census tract level from the 2002 and 2005 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment to baseline residential addresses of cohort members who enrolled from 2001 to 2003 or 2004 to 2006, respectively. For each enrollment period, we applied mixed-effects logistic regression models to determine associations between diesel particulate matter and PAHs, separately, and self-reported hypertension while adjusting for confounders and the clustering of observations within census tracts and households. Results: The study population consisted of 11218 participants of which 77 % were women. The mean participant age at baseline was 41 years. Following adjustment for age, there was a dose-dependent, positive association between PAHs and hypertension (medium exposure, adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.09, 95 % CI: 0.88-1.36; high exposure, OR = 1.40, 95 % CI: 1.01-1.94) for individuals enrolled during 2001-2003; associations were generally similar in magnitude, but less precise, following adjustment for age, gender, smoking, and BMI. No association was detected for the later period. There was no evidence of an association between residential levels of diesel particulate matter and hypertension. Conclusions: This study builds on a limited number of prior investigations of the association between ambient air levels of PAHs or diesel particulate matter and hypertension by focusing on a relatively young cohort of predominantly adult women of Mexican origin. Future analyses are warranted to explore associations in the cohort using incident hypertension when sufficient data become available and to further examine associations between specific chemical constituents of particulate matter and hypertension in this and other populations.