Short-term exposure to ambient ozone associated with cardiac arrhythmias in healthy adults.

Objective: The exact biological mechanism whereby exposure to ambient ozone (O₃) may contribute to clinical onset of cardiovascular events remains unclear. In this study, we aim to examine the impacts of O₃ exposure on cardiac arrhythmias and potential pathways involved through autonomic dysfunction and myocardial injury. Methods: Seventy-three non-smoking healthy adults were followed with 4 repeated measurements of 24-hour ambulatory arrhythmias, heart rate variability, ST-segment deviation, and blood pressure (BP) in Beijing, China, 2014 ‒2016. Generalized additive mixed models coupled with distributed lag nonlinear models were constructed to evaluate the associations and potential interlinks between O₃ exposure and outcome measurements. Results: During the study period, 24-hour average concentrations of ambient O₃ were 47.4 μg/m³ (ranging from 1.0 to 165.9 μg/m³). Increased risks of premature ventricular contraction and ventricular tachycardia were associated with interquartile range increases in O₃ exposure during the last 5 days before each participant's clinic visit, with relative risks of 2.14 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.95 to 2.32) and 5.47 (95% CI: 3.51 to 7.43), respectively. Mediation analyses further showed that sympathetic activation, parasympathetic inhibition, and elevated BP levels, as well as heightened risks of ST-segment depression could mediate up to 47.74% of the risks of arrhythmias attributable to O₃ exposure. Conclusion: Our results suggest that short-term exposure to ambient O₃ could prompt the genesis of arrhythmias partially through worsening autonomic function and myocardial burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]