Introducing an air purifier with a HEPA air filter to your home could significantly lower your blood pressure, according to a new study.
Air pollution from roadways can find its way indoors, putting people at risk for adverse health outcomes like high blood pressure and heart disease, NBC News explained in its summary of the research.
The study's authors relied on 154 healthy volunteers who lived near roadways. They split these people into two groups. One group received two HEPA filters — one for each of the two most commonly used rooms in their homes. The other group got sham filters. After that, they switched the two groups.
The researchers found that the volunteers who had gone into the study with slightly elevated blood pressure levels saw a 2.8-point drop in systolic blood pressure, which the American Heart Association considers the strongest predictor of future heart problems. People with normal blood pressure did not see a decline in this marker, however.
"It was a modest effect, but a clinically significant one," Matthew Alexander, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiovascular medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, who was unaffiliated with the study, told NBC. "And it would correspond to about a 6% reduction in the risk of adverse cardiac events, such as heart attacks, strokes or cardiovascular death."
Approximately 46% of Americans live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association. In addition to contributing to spiked blood pressure and cardiac issues, this pollution can lead to respiratory issues and cancer. Plus, it can even affect our skin, according to one new study. Pollution from sources like traffic is also a major contributor to the overheating of our planet.
That's why scientists and city planners are looking for ways to tackle the problem. One promising solution is turning this air pollution into stone. And one new policy in New York City that charges vehicles a fee to enter certain parts of Manhattan during peak hours has helped reduce carbon pollution by 2.5% in its first six months.
And HEPA filters don't just help filter traffic pollution. They're also an ally against wildfire smoke, which can severely impact indoor air quality.
"We believe it is a reasonable conclusion, given the lack of adverse effects, to recommend air purifier use for vulnerable populations, those with preexisting risk of cardiovascular disease such as elevated blood pressure, and those who live within 200 meters of high traffic highways or 100 meters of high-traffic roads," the study authors stated.
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