Particulate Emissions: Health Effects and Labour Market Consequences

The objective of this study was to analyse the productivity cost savings associated with mitigation of particulate emissions, as an input to a cost-benefit analysis. Reduced emissions of particulate matter (PM2.5) may reduce the incidence of diseases related to air pollution and potentially increase productivity as a result of better health. Based on data from epidemiological studies, we modelled the impact of air pollution on four different diseases: coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We identified individuals with these diseases and modelled changes in disease incidence as an expression of exposure. The labour market affiliation and development in wages over time for exposed individuals was compared to that of a reference group of individuals matched on a number of sociodemographic variables, comorbidity, and predicted smoking status. We identified a productivity cost of about 1.8 million EURO per 100,000 population aged 50–70 in the first year, following an increase inPM2.5emissions. We have illustrated how the potential impact of air pollution may influence social production by application of a matched study design that renders a study population similar to that of a trial. The result suggests that there may be a productivity gain associated with mitigation efforts.

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Commuting mode and pulmonary function in Shanghai, China

European Respiratory Journal ◽

10.1183/13993003.00637-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 733-741 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Adam W. Gaffney ◽

Jing-qing Hang ◽

Mi-Sun Lee ◽

Li Su ◽

Feng-ying Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pulmonary Function ◽

Air Conditioning ◽

Reference Group ◽

Airflow Obstruction ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Mode Of Transportation ◽

Commuting Mode ◽

The Impact

Exposure to air pollution can be particularly high during commuting and may depend on the mode of transportation. We investigated the impact of commuting mode on pulmonary function in Shanghai, China.The Shanghai Putuo Study is a cross-sectional, population-based study. Our primary outcomes were forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) % predicted, and the secondary outcome was spirometric airflow obstruction. We tested the association between mode of transportation and these outcomes after adjusting for confounders.The study population consisted of 20 102 subjects. After adjusting for confounders, the change (95% CI) in FEV1 was −2.15% pred (−2.88– −1.42% pred) among pedestrians, −1.32% pred (−2.05– −0.59% pred) among those taking buses without air conditioning, −1.33% pred (−2.05– −0.61% pred) among those taking buses with air conditioning and −2.83% pred (−5.56– −0.10% pred) among those using underground railways, as compared to cyclists (the reference group). The effects of mode on FVC % predicted were in the same direction. Private car use had a significant protective effect on FVC % predicted and the risk of airflow obstruction (defined by Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease but not by lower limit of normal criteria).Mode of transportation is associated with differences in lung function, which may reflect pollution levels in different transportation microenvironments.

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Reducing future air pollution-related premature mortality over Europe by mitigating emissions: assessing an 80 % renewable energies scenario

10.5194/acp-2021-86 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Patricia Tarín-Carrasco ◽

Ulas Im ◽

Camilla Geels ◽

Laura Palacios-Peña ◽

Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Fine Particles ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

Premature Mortality ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

European Population ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Future Scenarios ◽

Mitigation Scenario ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Worldwide air quality has worsened in the last decades as a consequence of increased anthropogenic emissions, in particular from the sector of power generation. The evidence of the effects of atmospheric pollution (and particularly fine particulate matter, PM2.5) on human health is unquestionable nowadays, producing mainly cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, morbidity and even mortality. These effects can even enhance in the future as a consequence of climate penalties and future changes in the population projected. Because of all these reasons, the main objective of this contribution is the estimation of annual excess premature deaths (PD) associated to PM2.5 on present (1991–2010) and future (2031–2050) European population by using non-linear exposure-response functions. The endpoints included are Lung Cancer (LC), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Low Respiratory Infections (LRI), Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease (CEV) and other Non-Communicable Diseases (other NCD). PM2.5 concentrations come from coupled chemistry-climate regional simulations under present and RCP8.5 future scenarios. The cases assessed include the estimation of the present incidence of PD (PRE-P2010), the quantification of the role of a changing climate on PD (FUT-P2010) and the importance of changes in the population projected for the year 2050 on the incidence of excess PD (FUT-P2050). Two additional cases (REN80-P2010 and REN80-P2050) evaluate the impact on premature mortality rates of a mitigation scenario in which the 80 % of European energy production comes from renewables sources. The results indicate that PM2.5 accounts for nearly 895,000 [95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) 725,000-1,056,000] annual excess PD over Europe, with IHD being the largest contributor to premature mortality associated to fine particles in both present and future scenarios. The case isolating the effects of climate penalty (FUT-P2010) estimates a variation +0.2 % on mortality rates over the whole domain. However, under this scenario the incidence of PD over central Europe will benefit from a decrease of PM2.5 (−2.2 PD/100,000 h.) while in eastern (+1.3 PD/100,000 h.) and western (+0.4 PD/100,000 h.) Europe PD will increase due to increased PM2.5 levels. The changes in the projected population (FUT-P2050) will lead to a large increase of annual excess PD (1,540,000, 95 % CI 1,247,000-1,818,000), +71.96 % with respect to PRE-P2010 and +71.67 % to FUT-P2010) due to the aging of the European population. Last, the mitigation scenario (REN80-P2050) demonstrates that the effects of a mitigation policy increasing the ratio of renewable sources in the energy mix energy could lead to a decrease of over 60,000 (95 % CI 48,500-70,900) annual PD for the year 2050 (a decrease of −4 % in comparison with the no-mitigation scenario, FUT-P2050). In spite of the uncertainties inherent to future estimations, this contribution reveals the need of the governments and public entities to take action and bet for air pollution mitigation policies.

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Household Air Pollution in Low and Middle Income Countries

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.25 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Caroline A. Ochieng ◽

Cathryn Tonne ◽

Sotiris Vardoulakis ◽

Jan Semenza

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

National Level ◽

Household Air Pollution ◽

Solid Fuels ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Biomass Fuels ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

The Impact ◽

Low And Middle Income

Household air pollution from use of solid fuels (biomass fuels and coal) is a major problem in low and middle income countries, where 90% of the population relies on these fuels as the primary source of domestic energy. Use of solid fuels has multiple impacts, on individuals and households, and on the local and global environment. For individuals, the impact on health can be considerable, as household air pollution from solid fuel use has been associated with acute lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and other illnesses. Household-level impacts include the work, time, and high opportunity costs involved in biomass fuel collection and processing. Harvesting and burning biomass fuels affects local environments by contributing to deforestation and outdoor air pollution. At a global level, inefficient burning of solid fuels contributes to climate change. Improved biomass cookstoves have for a long time been considered the most feasible immediate intervention in resource-poor settings. Their ability to reduce exposure to household air pollution to levels that meet health standards is however questionable. In addition, adoption of improved cookstoves has been low, and there is limited evidence on how the barriers to adoption and use can be overcome. However, the issue of household air pollution in low and middle income countries has gained considerable attention in recent years, with a range of international initiatives in place to address it. These initiatives could enable a transition from biomass to cleaner fuels, but such a transition also requires an enabling policy environment, especially at the national level, and new modes of financing technology delivery. More research is also needed to guide policy and interventions, especially on exposure-response relationships with various health outcomes and on how to overcome poverty and other barriers to wide-scale transition from biomass fuels to cleaner forms of energy.

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Association Between Air Pollution and Lung Lobar Emphysema in COPD

Frontiers in Medicine ◽

10.3389/fmed.2021.705792 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Nguyen Thanh Tung ◽

Shu-Chuan Ho ◽

Yueh-Hsun Lu ◽

Tzu-Tao Chen ◽

Kang-Yun Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Exercise Capacity ◽

Reference Group ◽

Lower Lobe ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Crude Odds Ratio ◽

Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽

Emphysema Severity ◽

Lobar Emphysema ◽

Pollution Exposure

The development of emphysema has been linked to air pollution; however, the association of air pollution with the extent of lobar emphysema remains unclear. This study examined the association of particulate matter <2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameters (PM2.5) (≤2.5 μm), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) level of exposure with the presence of emphysema in 86 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Exposure to the air pollution estimated using the land-use regression model was associated with lung function, BODE (a body mass index, degree of obstruction, dyspnea severity, and exercise capacity index) quartiles, and emphysema measured as low-attenuation areas on high-resolution CT (HR-CT) lung scans. Using paraseptal emphysema as the reference group, we observed that a 1 ppb increase in O3 was associated with a 1.798-fold increased crude odds ratio of panlobular emphysema (p < 0.05). We observed that PM2.5 was associated with BODE quartiles, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea score, and exercise capacity (all p < 0.05). We found that PM2.5, NO2, and O3 were associated with an increased degree of upper lobe emphysema and lower lobe emphysema (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, we observed that an increase in PM2.5, NO2, and O3 was associated with greater increases in upper lobe emphysema than in lower lobe emphysema. In conclusion, exposure to O3 can be associated with a higher risk of panlobular emphysema than paraseptal emphysema in patients with COPD. Emphysema severity in lung lobes, especially the upper lobes, may be linked to air pollution exposure in COPD.

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The short term burden of ambient gaseous air pollution on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Pudong New Area, China: A time-stratified case-crossover study with a distributed lag nonlinear model

10.21203/rs.3.rs-109352/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yichen Chen ◽

Xiaopan Li ◽

Hanyi Chen ◽

Lianghong Sun ◽

Tao Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽

Distributed Lag ◽

Case Crossover ◽

Distributed Lag Nonlinear Model ◽

Pudong New Area ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background: Air pollution is a severe and dangerous public health problem. However, the effect of ambient gaseous air pollution exposure on years of life lost (YLL) attributable to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality has not been quantitatively verified.Methods: We collected the data of 12,781 COPD deaths and ambient gaseous air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3), during the years 2013-2019 in the Shanghai Pudong New Area (PNA). Then we performed a time-stratified case-crossover study combined with a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to estimate the impact of those air pollutants on daily COPD deaths counts and YLL. The confounders including long-term trend and meteorological factors have been controlled for, and effects of age and educational attainment as effect modifiers have also been evaluated.Results: During the 2013-2019 time frame, increases of 10μg/m3 in SO2 and NO2 were associated with a 4.93% (95% CI: 1.47%, 8.50%) and 1.47% (95% CI: 0.14%, 2.82%) in daily COPD death counts at lag0-1day, respectively, a 2.52 (95% CI: 0.31, 4.72) YLL increase and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.01, 1.68) YLL increase at lag0-1day, respectively. A 1mg/m3 increase in CO was associated with a 9.46% (95% CI: 0.40%, 19.35%) at lag0 increase in daily COPD death counts. No significant impact from O3 on both daily COPD deaths counts and YLL (P>0.05). The impact of gaseous air pollutants on the daily COPD death count and YLL were significant in populations of older adults and the lower educated population, while an insignificant effect was observed in the younger population and higher educated population. The YLL due to COPD related to SO2 and CO for the lower educated population was significantly higher than those for the higher educated population.Conclusion: Reducing specific gaseous air pollutants will help to control COPD deaths and improve the population’s life expectancy.

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Exploring Influencing Factors of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Based on Elastic Net and Bayesian Network

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1163618/v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Dichen Quan ◽

Jiahui Ren ◽

Hao Ren ◽

Liqin Linghu ◽

Xuchun Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Family History ◽

Influencing Factors ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Elastic Net ◽

Household Air Pollution ◽

Shanxi Province ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Targeted Prevention ◽

Network Relationship

Abstract This study aimed to construct Bayesian networks(BNs) to analyze the network relationship between those influencing factors and COPD, and to explore their intensity of effect on COPD through network reasoning. Elastic Net and Max-Min Hill-Climbing(MMHC) hybrid algorithm were adopted to screen the variables on the monitoring data of COPD among residents in Shanxi Province, China from 2014 to 2015, and construct BNs respectively. After variables selection by Elastic Net, 10 variables closely related to COPD were selected finally. The BNs constructed by MMHC showed that smoking status, household air pollution, family history, cough, air hunger or dyspnea were directly related to COPD, and Gender was indirectly linked to COPD through smoking status. Moreover, smoking status, household air pollution and family history were the parent nodes of COPD, and cough, air hunger or dyspnea represented the child nodes of COPD. In other words, smoking status, household air pollution and family history were related to the occurrence of COPD, and COPD would make patients’ cough, air hunger or dyspnea worse. Generally speaking, BNs could reveal the complex network relationship between COPD and its relevant factors well, making it more convenient to carry out targeted prevention and control of COPD.

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Air pollution, lung function and COPD: results from the population-based UK Biobank study

European Respiratory Journal ◽

10.1183/13993003.02140-2018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 1802140 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Dany Doiron ◽

Kees de Hoogh ◽

Nicole Probst-Hensch ◽

Isabel Fortier ◽

Yutong Cai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Lung Function ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Chronic Obstructive ◽

Lower Income ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Lower Lung

Ambient air pollution increases the risk of respiratory mortality, but evidence for impacts on lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is less well established. The aim was to evaluate whether ambient air pollution is associated with lung function and COPD, and explore potential vulnerability factors.We used UK Biobank data on 303 887 individuals aged 40–69 years, with complete covariate data and valid lung function measures. Cross-sectional analyses examined associations of land use regression-based estimates of particulate matter (particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 and 10 µm: PM2.5 and PM10, respectively; and coarse particles with diameter between 2.5 μm and 10 μm: PMcoarse) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), the FEV1/FVC ratio and COPD (FEV1/FVC <lower limit of normal). Effect modification was investigated for sex, age, obesity, smoking status, household income, asthma status and occupations previously linked to COPD.Higher exposures to each pollutant were significantly associated with lower lung function. A 5 µg·m−3 increase in PM2.5 concentration was associated with lower FEV1 (−83.13 mL, 95% CI −92.50– −73.75 mL) and FVC (−62.62 mL, 95% CI −73.91– −51.32 mL). COPD prevalence was associated with higher concentrations of PM2.5 (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.42–1.62, per 5 µg·m−3), PM10 (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.00–1.16, per 5 µg·m−3) and NO2 (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.10–1.14, per 10 µg·m−3), but not with PMcoarse. Stronger lung function associations were seen for males, individuals from lower income households, and “at-risk” occupations, and higher COPD associations were seen for obese, lower income, and non-asthmatic participants.Ambient air pollution was associated with lower lung function and increased COPD prevalence in this large study.

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Estimation of Damage Cost to Building Façades per kilo Emission of Air Pollution in Norway

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11070686 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 686 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Terje Grøntoft

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Marginal Cost ◽

18Th Century ◽

Cost Benefit Analysis ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Damage Cost ◽

Damage Costs ◽

Marginal Damage ◽

The Cost ◽

The Impact

This work reports marginal damage costs to façades due to air pollution exposure estimated “bottom up,” for Norway and Oslo (Norway) by the use of exposure response functions (ERFs) and impact pathway analysis from the emission to the deteriorating impact. The aim of the work was to supply cost estimates that could be compared with reported damage costs to health, agriculture, and ecosystems, and that could be used in cost-benefit analysis by environmental authorities. The marginal damage costs for cleaning, repair, and in total (cleaning + repair) were found to be, in Norway: eight, two, and 10, respectively, and for a traffic situation in Oslo: 50 (77), 50 (28), and 100 (105), (×/÷ 2.5) Euro/kg emission of PM10, SO2, and NO2 in total. For Oslo, the values represent a recorded façade materials inventory for 17–18th century buildings, and in the brackets the same façade inventory as for Norway. In total, 5–10% of the marginal damage cost was found to be due to NO2. The total marginal cost was found to be shared about equally between the impact of PM10 and SO2 in Norway (50 and 42% of the impact) and for the 17–18th century buildings in Oslo (45% and 49% of the impact), but for a similar façade materials inventory in Oslo as Norway, the total marginal cost due to PM10 was about two-thirds and that due to SO2 about one-third of the total, with about 5% of the cost still being due to NO2. The division of the costs between the separate pollutant influences on the cleaning and repair was, however, found to be significantly different in Norway and Oslo. In Norway, about 60% of the marginal cleaning cost was found to be due to PM10, 30% due to SO2, and 10% due to NO2. In Oslo, about 85% of the marginal cleaning costs were found to be due to PM10, 10% due to SO2, and 5% due to NO2. For the marginal repair cost, the opposite situation was found, in both Norway and Oslo, with 80–90% of the cost being due to SO2, 5–10% being due to PM10, and 5–10% due to NO2. As other factors than air pollution deteriorates façades and influences maintenance decisions, the expenses that can be attributed to the air pollution could be significantly lower.

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Hemoglobin and All-Cause Mortality: Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v106.11.2257.2257 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 106 (11) ◽

pp. 2257-2257

Author(s):

Dan L. Longo ◽

Alessandro Ble ◽

Jeffrey E. Metter ◽

Jack M. Guralnik ◽

Richard C. Woodman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reference Group ◽

Cox Model ◽

Smoking Status ◽

The Elderly ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Healthy Population ◽

Large Cohort Study ◽

High Risk Populations ◽

Hb Concentration ◽

The Impact

Abstract Whether mild-to-moderate hemoglobin (Hb) reduction is associated with increased mortality independent of underlying diseases is still debated. Two epidemiological studies addressing this issue in high risk populations (disabled older women, and persons 85 years or older) reported conflicting results. The BLSA offers the opportunity to investigate this association in an adult generally healthy population. The BLSA is a large cohort study on aging started in 1958. The participants are volunteers living in the Baltimore-Washington area (USA), well educated and self-describing as generally healthy persons. Participants are examined every 1-2 years. In the present analysis, all participants evaluated at least one occasion for Hb were included. Subjects were not excluded for any pre-existing conditions or specific outcomes. Hb levels were measured in 2979 participants recruited from 1958 to 2002 (1793 men and 1186 women, 78.7% Caucasians, age range: 18–96 years). Mean age at initial evaluation was 52.3 (±17.4) years for women and 52.1 (±17.9) for men, and the average time from baseline to death/censoring was 17.6 years for men and 12.4 years for women. Crude mortality rates were 21/1000 person years for men and 9.7/1000 person years for women. After adjusting for age, a U-shaped relationship (obtained fitting a Cox model with a Poisson regression approach according Therneau & Grambsch, 2000) was observed between Hb concentration and mortality with nadir at Hb=12.8g/dL in women and 15.0g in men. In the same model, significant excess of mortality was associated with Hb ≤ 11.2g/dL (95%CI 9.8g/dL–12.3 g/dL) and ≥ 14.0 g/dL (95%CI 13.5g/dL–14.9g/dL) in women, and ≤ 13.4 g/dL (95% CI 12.5g/dL–14.4g/dL) and ≥ 16.2g/dL (95% CI 15.4g/dL–17.2g/dL) in men. After adjusting for demographics, anthropometrics, smoking status, radiation exposure, and co-morbid diseases (heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension), men with Hb ≤ 13.4 g/dL (mean: 12.7 g/dL, SD: 0.6) were at 30% higher risk (RR: 1.31, 95%CI: 1.08–1.58) compared to the reference group (Hb: 13.4–16.2). Accordingly, women with Hb ≤ 11.2 g/dL (mean: 10.2 g/dL, SD: 1.0) showed 100% greater risk compared to the reference group (Hb: 11.2–14.0), however this association was not statistically significant (RR: 2.01, 95% CI: 0.88–4.63). When men with Hb levels <10g/dL and women with <9 g/dL were excluded the results did not substantially change. Our findings showed that in the general population moderately-low Hb levels per se were associated with increased mortality risk. The impact of anemia correction on mortality in the elderly remains to be determined.

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Independent Effects of Metabolic Syndrome and Air Pollution (PM2.5) on Atherosclerosis in Modernizing China

Austin Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ◽

10.26420/austinjpublichealthepidemiol.2021.1097 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Woo KS ◽

◽

Timothy KCY ◽

Chook P ◽

Hu YJ ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Hong Kong ◽

Waist Circumference ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Direct Interaction ◽

Intima Media Thickness ◽

Carotid Intima Media Thickness ◽

Carotid Imt ◽

The Impact

Background: Air Pollution (AP) and metabolic syndrome (MS) are important global health hazards of the 21st century, in mainland China in particular, and AP has been associated with increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, and stroke. Methods: To evaluate the impact of metabolic syndrome on AP-related atherogenesis, 1557 Han Chinese adults (mean age 47.2±11.8 years, male 47%) in Hong Kong, Macau, Pun Yu, Yu County (Shanxi coalmine) and 3-Gorges (Yangtze River) were studied. Cardiovascular risk profiles and metabolic syndrome (IDF criteria) were evaluated. PM2.5 (satellite sensor modeling), and atherosclerotic surrogates, brachial reactivity (FMD) and carotid Intima-media thickness (IMT) (ultrasound), were measured. Results: The yearly PM2.5 concentration ranged from 34.0μg/m³ in Hong Kong to 93.8μg/m³ in 3-Gorges Territories. MS was diagnosed in 340 subjects (21.8%). Smoking status, gender and PM2.5 were similar in the MS cohort versus those without MS. Blood pressures (SBP and DBP), waist circumference, triglycerides and glucose were higher, but high-density lipidcholesterol was lower in the MS cohort, compared to the other subjects. Brachial FMD was significantly lower and carotid IMT significantly higher (0.70±0.13 mm, 95% CI 0.68-0.71 mm vs. 0.63mm±0.14mm, 95% CI 0.62-0.64 mm) in the MS cohort than those without (P<0.0001). On multivariate regression, PM2.5 was not related to MS development, but was significantly related to carotid IMT in both no MS (beta=0.234, P<0.0001) and MS cohorts (beta=0.245, p<0.0001), independent of age, SBP, and waist circumference. There was no direct interaction between PM2.5 and MS. Conclusions: Both AP and MS have independent impacts on atherogenic processes in China, with significant implications for atherosclerosis prevention.

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