RISUD Research Seminar: Cardiovascular Health Effects of Stress and Traffic-Related Air Pollution

Epidemiological studies of myocardial infarction incidence show a synergistic association between social stress and air pollution. We exposed male and female rats to chronic unpredictable mild stress and traffic related air pollution (TRAP) from the Caldecott tunnel near Oakland California to explore the directionality of this synergism: Does air pollution make the effects of the stress worse or does the stress make the effects of the air pollution worse, all with cardiovascular endpoints. TRAP exposures were from two tunnel bores, one that permits all vehicle types but is dominated by heavy duty diesel emissions and the other that only permits light duty vehicles that are mostly gasoline powered. The experiments are still underway, but the results so far show sex differences and cardiac function decreases. The talk will present the experimental design and the results to date.

 Biography

Prof. Anthony WEXLER

Director of Air Quality Research Center;
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering;
Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering;
Distinguished Professor of Land, Air, and Water Resources,
University of California, Davis

Prof. WEXLER’s research focuses on the atmospheric processing and health effects of air pollution. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California, Berkeley, Master’s of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and PhD from the California Institute of Technology. His current research includes health effects of traffic-related air pollution, health effects of nicotine delivery systems, thermodynamics of highly concentrated aqueous solutions, instruments for measuring air toxics, and biomimetic carbon capture compounds.