Air pollution source apportionment before, during, and after the 2008 Beijing Olympics and association of sources to aldehydes and biomarkers of blood coagulation, pulmonary and systemic inflammation, and oxidative stress in healthy young adults

Based on principal component analysis (PCA) of air pollution data collected during the Summer Olympic Games held in Beijing, China during 2008, the five source types of air pollution identified – natural soil/road dust, vehicle and industrial combustion, vegetative burning, oil combustion, and secondary formation, were all distinctly lower during the Olympics. This was particularly true for vehicle and industrial combustion and oil combustion, and during the main games period between the opening and closing ceremonies. The reduction in secondary formation was reflective of a reduction in nitrogen oxides, but this also contributed to increased ozone concentrations during the Olympic period. Among three toxic aldehydes measured in Beijing during the same time period, only acetaldehyde had a reduction in mean concentration during the Olympic air pollution control period compared to the pre-Olympic period. Accordingly, acetaldehyde was significantly correlated with primary emission sources including vegetative burning and oil combustion, and with several pollutants emitted mainly from primary sources. In contrast, formaldehyde and acrolein increased during the Olympic air pollution control period; accordingly both were significantly correlated with ozone and with the secondary formation source type. These findings indicate primary sources may dominate for acetaldehyde while secondary sources may dominate for formaldehyde and acrolein. Biomarkers for pulmonary inflammation (exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH, exhaled nitric oxide, and EBC nitrite) and hemostasis and blood coagulation (vWF and sCD62p) were most consistently associated with vehicle and industrial combustion, oil combustion, and vegetative burning. The systemic inflammation biomarker 8-OHdG was most consistently associated with vehicle and industrial combustion. In contrast, the associations between the biomarkers and the aldehydes were generally not significant or in the hypothesized direction, although EBC nitrite was associated with both acrolein and acetaldehyde, and sCD62p was associated with acetaldehyde. Notably, the biomarker sCD40L showed few significant associations with any of the air pollution source types or aldehydes. The findings indicate that implementing controls for combustion sources may have a positive impact on cardiorespiratory health, even in healthy young adults. More aggressive control of vegetative burning and further reduction of nitrogen oxide concentrations would likely have an even more positive impact.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Brent A. Altemos