Cardiovascular benefits of personal protection against traffic-related air pollution and noise: Evidence from multi-system biomarkers in a randomized crossover trial.

Authors

Shuyan Meng, Ling Qi, Yongtao Wang, Xiaoli Duan

Published in

Journal of hazardous materials. Volume 515. Pages 143011. Jul 15, 2026. Epub Jul 15, 2026.

Abstract

Simultaneous exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and noise represents a pervasive cardiovascular challenge in urban environments. Evidence regarding the cardioprotective efficacy of personal interventions remains limited. This randomized crossover trial aimed to evaluate the cardiovascular benefits of mask and noise-canceling headphone use among healthy adults. Fifty-one healthy young adults underwent four randomized 2-hour exposure sessions at a high-traffic site in Beijing: no intervention, mask intervention, headphone intervention, and combined intervention, separated by two-week washout periods. Cardiovascular outcomes, including heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, and biomarkers of myocardial injury and blood lipid metabolism, were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. Relative to the control group, the combined intervention significantly elevated core HRV indicators: SDNN (+20.3%, p = 0.041), RMSSD (+56.8%, p < 0.01), SDSD (+62.0%, p < 0.01), pNN50 (+61.1%, p = 0.049), LF (+128.6%, p < 0.01) and HF (+73.8%, p = 0.038). Concurrently, the combined intervention significantly reduced the Creatine Kinase-MB Isoenzyme by 27.6% (p < 0.01) and homocysteine, an independent cardiovascular risk factor, by 79.5% (p < 0.01). Notably, a pronounced sex-heterogeneity was observed, with females deriving greater autonomic modulation benefits from the combined protective strategy than males. Integrated personal protection effectively mitigates the acute cardiovascular impairment induced by traffic-related environmental stressors. Our findings underscore the necessity of multifaceted and sex-specific protective strategies in future public health guidelines to safeguard urban residents during outdoor activities.

PMID:
42485724
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Jul 2026.

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