Ambient air pollution and risk of respiratory infection among adults: evidence from the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA)

BackgroundAir pollution may affect the risk of respiratory infection, though research has focused on uncommon infections or infections in children. Whether ambient air pollutants increase the risk of common acute respiratory infections among adults is uncertain, yet this may help understand whether pollutants influence spread of pandemic respiratory infections like COVID-19.ObjectiveTo estimate the association between ambient air pollutant exposures and respiratory infections in adults.MethodsDuring five study examinations over 12 years, 6536 participants in the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA) reported upper respiratory tract infections, bronchitis, pneumonia or febrile illness in the preceding 2 weeks. Using a validated spatiotemporal model, we estimated residential concentrations of ambient PM2.5, NOx and NO2 for the 2–6 weeks (short-term) and year (long-term) prior to each examination.ResultsIn this population aged 44–84 years at baseline, 10%–32% of participants reported a recent respiratory infection, depending on month of examination and study region. PM2.5, NOx and NO2 concentrations over the prior 2–6 weeks were associated with increased reporting of recent respiratory infection, with risk ratios (95% CIs) of 1.04 (1.00 to 1.09), 1.15 (1.10 to 1.20) and 1.21 (1.10 to 1.33), respectively, per increase from 25th to 75th percentile in residential pollutant concentration.ConclusionHigher short-term exposure to PM2.5 and traffic-related pollutants are associated with increased risk of symptomatic acute respiratory infections among adults. These findings may provide an insight into the epidemiology of COVID-19.

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On the triad of air PM pollution, pathogenic bioaerosols, and lower respiratory infection

Environmental Geochemistry and Health ◽

10.1007/s10653-021-01025-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tangtian He ◽

Ling Jin ◽

Xiangdong Li

Keyword(s):

Respiratory Infection ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

Airborne Particulate Matter ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Mechanistic Study ◽

Lower Respiratory Infection ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Etiological Agents

AbstractAirborne particulate matter (PM) pollution, as a leading environmental health risk, causes millions of premature deaths globally every year. Lower respiratory infection (LRI) is a sensitive response to short-term exposure to outdoor PM pollution. The airborne transmission of etiological agents of LRI, as an important pathway for infection and morbidity, bridges the public health issues of air quality and pathogen infectivity, virulence, resistance, and others. Enormous efforts are underway to identify common pathogens and substances that are etiological agents for LRI and to understand the underlying toxicological and clinical basis of health effects by identifying mechanistic pathways. Seasonal variations and geographical disparities in the survival and infectivity of LRI pathogens are unsolved mysteries. Weather conditions in geographical areas may have a key effect, but also potentially connect LRI with short-term increases in ambient air PM pollution. Statistical associations show that short-term elevations in fine and coarse PM lead to increases in respiratory infections, but the causative agents could be chemical or microbiological and be present individually or in mixtures, and the interactions between chemical and microbiological agents remain undefined. Further investigations on high-resolution monitoring of airborne pathogens in relation to PM pollution for an integrated exposure–response assessment and mechanistic study are warranted. Improving our understanding of the spatiotemporal features of pathogenic bioaerosols and air pollutants and translating scientific evidence into effective policies is vital to reducing the health risks and devastating death toll from PM pollution. Graphical abstract

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The Impact of Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollution on the Exhaled Breath of Healthy Adults

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21072518 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 2518

Author(s):

Ariana Lammers ◽

Anne H. Neerincx ◽

Susanne J. H. Vijverberg ◽

Cristina Longo ◽

Nicole A. H. Janssen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Partial Least Square ◽

Exhaled Breath ◽

Short Term ◽

Post Exposure ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Validation Set ◽

The Impact

Environmental factors, such as air pollution, can affect the composition of exhaled breath, and should be well understood before biomarkers in exhaled breath can be used in clinical practice. Our objective was to investigate whether short-term exposures to air pollution can be detected in the exhaled breath profile of healthy adults. In this study, 20 healthy young adults were exposed 2–4 times to the ambient air near a major airport and two highways. Before and after each 5 h exposure, exhaled breath was analyzed using an electronic nose (eNose) consisting of seven different cross-reactive metal-oxide sensors. The discrimination between pre and post-exposure was investigated with multilevel partial least square discriminant analysis (PLSDA), followed by linear discriminant and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, for all data (71 visits), and for a training (51 visits) and validation set (20 visits). Using all eNose measurements and the training set, discrimination between pre and post-exposure resulted in an area under the ROC curve of 0.83 (95% CI = 0.76–0.89) and 0.84 (95% CI = 0.75–0.92), whereas it decreased to 0.66 (95% CI = 0.48–0.84) in the validation set. Short-term exposure to high levels of air pollution potentially influences the exhaled breath profiles of healthy adults, however, the effects may be minimal for regular daily exposures.

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Short‐term exposure to ambient air pollution in association with COVID‐19 in two clusters in South Korea

Tropical Medicine & International Health ◽

10.1111/tmi.13538 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tung Hoang ◽

Trung Nguyen Quang ◽

Tho Tran Thi Anh

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

South Korea ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Term Exposure

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Short-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Mortality From Myocardial Infarction

Journal of the American College of Cardiology ◽

10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.033 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 271-281 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yuewei Liu ◽

Jingju Pan ◽

Chuangang Fan ◽

Ruijun Xu ◽

Yaqi Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Myocardial Infarction ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Term Exposure

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Short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and atrial fibrillation hospitalization: A time-series study in Yancheng, China

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety ◽

10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112961 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 228 ◽

pp. 112961

Author(s):

Yan Fang ◽

Hongyi Cheng ◽

Xu Li ◽

Yifan Xu ◽

Hang Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Time Series ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Short Term ◽

Time Series Study ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Series Study

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Air pollution and hospital admissions and deaths due to respiratory infections in megacity of Tehran: A time series analysis

Journal of Air Pollution and Health ◽

10.18502/japh.v6i1.7601 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zahra Namvar ◽

Mostafa Hadei ◽

Seyed Saeed Hashemi ◽

Elahe Shahhosseini ◽

Philip K. Hopke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Hospital Admissions ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

Positive Association ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Age Group ◽

Distributed Lag ◽

Ambient Air Pollutants ◽

Short Term Exposure

Introduction: Air pollution is one of the main causes for the significant increase of respiratory infections in Tehran. In the present study, we investigated the associations between short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants with the hospital admissions and deaths. Materials and methods: Health data from 39915 hospital admissions and 2459 registered deaths associated with these hospital admissions for respiratory infections were obtained from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education during 2014-2017. We used the distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) for the analyses. Results: There was a statistically positive association between PM2.5 and AURI in the age group of 16 years and younger at lags 6 (RR 1.31; 1.05-1.64) and 7 (RR 1.50; 1.09-2.06). AURI admissions was associated with O3 in the age group of 16 and 65 years at lag 7 with RR 1.13 (1.00-1.27). ALRI admissions was associated with CO in the age group of 65 years and older at lag 0 with RR 1.12 (1.02-1.23). PM10 was associated with ALRI daily hospital admissions at lag 0 for males. ALRI admissions were associated with NO2 for females at lag 0. There was a positive association between ALRI deaths and SO2 in the age group of 65 years and older at lags 4 and 5 with RR 1.04 (1.00-1.09) and 1.03 (1.00-1.07), respectively. Conclusion: Exposure to outdoor air pollutants including PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO was associated with hospital admissions for AURI and ALRI at different lags. Moreover, exposure to SO2 was associated with deaths for ALRI.

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Short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and circulating biomarkers of endothelial cell activation: The Framingham Heart Study

Environmental Research ◽

10.1016/j.envres.2018.10.027 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 171 ◽

pp. 36-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Wenyuan Li ◽

Kirsten S. Dorans ◽

Elissa H. Wilker ◽

Mary B. Rice ◽

Petter L. Ljungman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Endothelial Cell ◽

Cell Activation ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Circulating Biomarkers ◽

Short Term ◽

Endothelial Cell Activation ◽

Heart Study ◽

Short Term Exposure

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Pollutant-sex specific differences in respiratory hospitalization and mortality risk attributable to short-term exposure to ambient air pollution

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143135 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 755 ◽

pp. 143135

Author(s):

Hwashin Hyun Shin ◽

Rajendra Prasad Parajuli ◽

Priyanka Gogna ◽

Aubrey Maquiling ◽

Parvin Dehghani

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Mortality Risk ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Term Exposure

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Short-term effects of air pollution on blood pressure

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-56413-y ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

You-Jung Choi ◽

Sun-Hwa Kim ◽

Si-Hyuck Kang ◽

Sun-Young Kim ◽

Ok-Jin Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Pathophysiological Mechanism ◽

Short Term ◽

Mortality And Morbidity ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Increased Risk

AbstractElevated blood pressure (BP) has been proposed as a possible pathophysiological mechanism linking exposure to ambient air pollution and the increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. In this study, we investigated the hourly relationship between ambient air pollutants and BP. BP measurements were extracted from the electronic health record database of the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from February 2015 to June 2017. A total of 98,577 individual BP measurements were matched to the hourly levels of air pollutants. A generalized additive model was constructed for hour lags of 0–8 of air pollutants adjusting for age, sex, meteorological variables, and time trend. Systolic BP was shown to be significantly lower at 2–4 hours and 3–5 hours after increased levels of SO2 and CO, respectively (0.24 mmHg and 0.26 mmHg for an interquartile range, respectively). In contrast, O3 and NO2 were associated with significantly increased systolic BP at 3–5 lag hours and at 0–2 lag hours, respectively. BP elevation in association with O3 and NO2 was shown to be significantly greater in hypertensive patients than normotensive subjects. Our findings suggest that short-term exposure to air pollution may be associated with elevated BP.

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