Climate Change, Indoor Ozone and Vascular Function

The main goal is to study the impact of changes in ambient O3 resulting from climate change on indoor exposure to O3 and O3-byproducts, ultimately assessing cardiovascular health risk, in a susceptible (elderly) group, for two climatically different regions (New Jersey & Georgia). Specific objectives are to: 1. Examine how changes in ambient O¬3 as a consequence of climate change may affect indoor air quality (IAQ) through both a direct effect on indoor O3 concentration and an indirect effect on indoor chemistry. We hypothesize that: 1) indoor O3 concentrations as well as the reaction products of O3 with typically abundant indoor alkenes, limonene and squalene, will increase with increasing outdoor O3 concentration; and 2) relative to outdoor O3, indoor O3 concentrations will increase with increasing ventilation rates, while the concentrations of O3/alkene reaction products will decrease with increasing ventilation rates. 2. Examine whether indoor exposures to air pollutants and cardiorespiratory responses can be modified by a portable air cleaner. We hypothesize that 3) The use of portable air cleaners can reduce indoor exposures to O3 and O3/alkene reaction products,; and 4) the use of portable air cleaners can significantly improve microvascular function and reduce markers of pulmonary oxidative stress, indicators of increased risk for adverse health outcomes. 3. Model climate change impacts on ambient O3 pollution, indoor exposures to O3 and its reaction products, and cardiovascular health outcomes. We hypothesize that 5) The impact of climate change on indoor exposures and health can be modeled based on data from Objectives 1 and 2; and 6) combining projections of indoor exposures to O3 and reaction products with results from Objective 2 and the literature on predictors of cardiac risk, one can estimate risk for adverse cardiac events from climate driven changes in indoor O3.