Recently, there has been increasing worldwide concern about outdoor air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM), which has been extensively researched for its harmful effects on the respiratory system. However, sufficient research on its effects on cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, remains lacking. In this study, we examine the associations between PM levels and hypertension and hypothesize that higher PM concentrations are associated with elevated blood pressure.

A total of 133,935 adults aged ≥ 40 years who participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study were analyzed. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate the short- (1–14 days), medium- (1 and 3 months), and long-term (1 and 2 years) impacts of PM on blood pressure. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the medium- and long-term effects of PM on blood pressure elevation after adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, health-related lifestyle behaviors, and geographic areas.

Using multiple linear regression analyses, both crude and adjusted models generated positive estimates, indicating an association with increased blood pressure, with all results being statistically significant, with the exception of PM levels over the long-term period (1 and 2 years) in non-hypertensive participants. In the logistic regression analyses on non-hypertensive participants, moderate PM₁₀ (particulate matter with diameters < 10 μm) and PM_2.5 (particulate matter with diameters < 2.5 μm) levels over the long-term period and all high PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 levels were statistically significant after adjusting for various covariates. Notably, high PM_2.5 levels of the 1 year exhibited the highest odds ratio of 1.23 (95% confidence interval: 1.19–1.28) after adjustment.

These findings suggest that both short- and long-term exposure to PM is associated with blood pressure elevation.

This study aimed to determine the effect of specific working postures on the development of varicose veins (VV). By using Korea's National Health Insurance (NHI) and National Employment Insurance (NEI) data, we analyzed the general characteristic and difference in proportions of VV cases according to occupational working posture.

From the NEI and NHI data, participant demographics, such as gender, age, body mass index, and number of workers in specific occupations or industries were obtained. We classified the 240 occupations into blue-collar (BC) and white-collar (WC) occupations and subdivided them into standing, sitting, and walking groups according to the dominant working posture.

The number of VV patients per 100,000 individuals increased with age, with a higher number of women than men and a higher number of patients in the BC than WC groups. For the BC group, the proportion of VV cases was the highest in the standing group, followed by the walking and sitting groups, but there was no significant difference between standing and walking groups in man. For the WC group, the standing group had a higher proportion of VV cases than the sitting group, but there was no significant difference between the standing and sitting group in man. In the BC group, the proportion of VV cases was the highest among medical and welfare-related elementary workers, bakers and cookie makers, automobile assemblers, cleaning and guarding-related elemental workers, and nurses and dental hygienists. In the WC group, the proportion of VV cases was the highest among food/lodging/tourism/entertainment/sports-related managers, environment/cleaning/protective services-related managers, finance and insurance clerks, accounting book-keeping clerks, and social welfare and counseling professionals.

This study was performed to determine the characteristics of VV with different working posture among Korean workers. It is expected to be the basis of further studies on occupational musculoskeletal diseases.