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Exposure to air pollution may increase mortality risk
Long-term exposure to high degrees of air pollution may increase the risk for total and CVD-related mortality, researchers reported in a new study.
A team of researchers performed an analysis to test the association between air pollution exposure, as indicated by concentrations of outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and mortality among 517,041 participants enrolled in the NIH-AARP cohort. Participants were aged 50 to 71 years and were living in California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and the Atlanta and Detroit metropolitan areas.
The researchers assessed demographics, anthropometric characteristics, dietary habits and health-related factors upon enrollment via mailed questionnaires in 1995 and 1996. Exposure to PM2.5 was estimated at the census-tract level according to data collected from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System. Follow-up was conducted between 2000 and 2009.
During follow-up, 86,864 deaths were recorded. Of those, 97.2% were due to non-accidental and non-external causes.
The researchers observed significant associations between exposure to PM2.5 and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.03 per 10 µg/m3; 95% CI, 1-1.05) and CVD-related mortality (HR = 1.1 per 10 µg/m3; 95% CI, 1.05-1.15). The link between PM2.5 exposure and respiratory disease-related mortality was only significant among participants who reported never smoking (HR = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.03-1.56).
Adjustment for ozone exposure and additional analysis including only residents of California also yielded similar results.
Stratification according to age, sex and education level did not influence results, according to the researchers.
“Our data add to a growing body of evidence that particulate matter is really harmful to health, increasing overall mortality, mostly deaths from CVD, as well as deaths from respiratory disease in nonsmokers,” George Thurston, ScD, professor of population health and environmental medicine at NYU Langone, said in a press release. – by Adam Taliercio
Disclosure: One researcher reports providing expert witness testimony on the human health effects of air pollution before Congress, during U.S. EPA public hearings and in legal cases.