Personal Air Purifiers Do Make a Difference to Blood Pressure

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A 15-point guide to living long, healthy

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

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The detailed 15-points guide to live long, healthy

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

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Air pollution remains the single largest overall killer in India as I first mentioned in Jan 2022, while high blood pressure comes 2^nd, though as a measurable single medical entity, it is the biggest killer.

The Air We Breathe

Air pollution affects everyone though the degree may matter

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

The Cardiovascular Syndemic - 5 Threats, 1 Battle

High blood pressure, high fasting plasma glucose, high lipids, smoking and overweight/obesity are the 5 epidemics that together form a syndemic that needs to be tackled together and aggressively.

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

Here is the 2021 data, which is currently the latest.

In Mar 2023, I wrote a piece on how living on main roads can raise your blood pressure, focusing more on the noise levels and less on air pollution.P

Living on Main Roads can Raise Your Blood Pressure

Exposure to road traffic noise and air pollution increases both systolic and diastolic blood pressure

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

Multiple studies [1] have shown  the harmful health effects of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), which includes increased blood pressure and its consequences.

It stands to reason therefore that if you can reduce the PM2.5 levels around you, it would help reduce your blood pressure, which in turn will help you live long, healthy.

I wrote this in Aug 2023, in my piece “Do Air Purifiers at Home and Work Make a Difference?”

Air pollution is a classic example of the “tragedy of the commons.” The best way to reduce air pollution is via legislation and measures that benefit the commons, not just single individuals and while our Government is figuring out ways to reduce air pollution, the impact will take years or decades, which is not a period most individuals are willing to wait to let their lungs and bodies become the target of PM2.5 and other noxious particles.

While ideally, it should be the job of the Govt to institute measures to reduce TRAP, in the short and medium term, it is up to us to take measures to protect ourselves.

I also mentioned in that piece

1. Technically, air purifiers work.  Those with good HEPA filters remove between 20-80% of PM2.5 particles within a reasonable radius. That they do their job is not an issue.

2. Air purifiers also appear to improve short term blood pressure and other metabolic parameters as a few short-term RCTs have shown.

3. However, we have no data whether air purifiers eventually improve our overall health and increase healthspan and lifespan. Does the use of air purifiers truly negate the ill-effects of the polluted air around you, in the long-term? While air purifiers do help reduce the incidence and severity of attacks of asthma and breathlessness in susceptible people, when the AQI is high, do they make a long-term impact? No one knows, because that kind of research has just not been done.

Last month, an article was published in JACC, with a simple title, “Effect of HEPA Filtration Air Purifiers on  Blood Pressure” headed Doug Brugge and colleagues. [2] This was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to check the effect of medical grade HEPA filters on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in reasonably low PM2.5 areas, but within 200 meters of highways, in the UK.

They used the HealthMate air purifier from Austin Air and found that those who had a blood pressure over 120 mm Hg had a mean 2.8 mm Hg reduction, but there was no change if the blood pressure was anyway below 120 mm Hg and with no change of the diastolic blood pressure. 

So while there is no study as yet that directly says that using a personal air purifier will increase healthspan and lifespan, there is enough evidence to suggest that personal air purifiers do reduce systolic blood pressure if it is above 120 mm Hg, which in turn, would reduce adverse health events related to high blood pressure, which in turn, would increase healthspan and lifespan.

What does this mean for you and I?

If you are within 200 m of a road with reasonable traffic in India, and considering that our PM2.5 levels are higher than acceptable in most Indian towns and cities, it is worth installing personal air purifiers with HEPA 13 or higher filters. There are many brands  including Coway and Honeywell that fit the bill and a simple search on ChatGPT with a prompt, “List the available personal air purifiers with HEPA 13 or better filters for particulate matter available in India” will give a list. They all cost under Rs. 20,000 and are worth the effort. 

Footnotes

1. Boogaard H, Patton AP, Atkinson RW, Brook JR, Chang HH, Crouse DL, et al. Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and selected health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International. 2022 June;164:107262.

2. Brugge D, Eliasziw M, Thanikachalam M, Kuchhal V, Morson C, Vazquez-Dodero T, et al. Effect of HEPA Filtration Air Purifiers on Blood Pressure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2025 Aug;S0735109725069670.