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Zhang J, Lim YH, So R, Mortensen LH, Napolitano GM, Cole-Hunter T, Tuffier S, Bergmann M, Maric M, Taghavi Shahri SM, Brandt J, Ketzel M, Loft S, Andersen ZJ. Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Risk of Acute Lower Respiratory Infections in the Danish Nurse Cohort. Ann Am Thorac Soc 2024; 21:1129-1138. [PMID: 38513223 DOI: 10.1513/annalsats.202401-074oc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Rationale: Air pollution is a major risk factor for chronic cardiorespiratory diseases, affecting the immune and respiratory systems' functionality, but epidemiological evidence in respiratory infections remains sparse. Objectives: We aimed to assess the association of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution with the risk of developing new and recurrent acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs), characterized by persistently severe symptoms necessitating hospital contact, and identify the potential susceptible populations by socioeconomic status, smoking, physical activity status, overweight, and comorbidity with chronic lung disease. Methods: We followed 23,912 female nurses from the Danish Nurse Cohort (age >44 yr) from baseline (1993 or 1999) until 2018 for incident and recurrent ALRIs defined by hospital contact (inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room) data from the National Patient Register. Residential annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and black carbon were modeled using the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model/Urban Background Model/Air Geographic Information System. We used marginal Cox models with time-varying exposures to assess the association of 3-year running mean air pollution level with incident and recurrent ALRIs and examined effect modification by age, socioeconomic status, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, and comorbidity with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Results: During a 21.3-year mean follow-up, 4,746 ALRIs were observed, of which 2,553 were incident. We observed strong positive associations of all three pollutants with incident ALRIs, with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of 1.19 (1.08-1.31) per 2.5 μg/m3 for fine particulate matter, 1.17 (1.11-1.24) per 8.0 μg/m3 for NO2, and 1.09 (1.05-1.12) per 0.3 μg/m3 for black carbon, and slightly stronger associations with recurrent ALRIs. Associations were strongest in patients with COPD and nurses with low physical activity. Conclusions: Long-term exposure to air pollution at low levels was associated with risks of new and recurrent ALRIs, with patients with COPD and physically inactive subjects most vulnerable.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rina So
- Section of Environmental Health and
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Laust H Mortensen
- Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Denmark Statistic, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Jørgen Brandt
- Department of Environmental Science and
- iClimate, Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark; and
| | - Matthias Ketzel
- Department of Environmental Science and
- Global Centre for Clean Air Research, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
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Zorn J, Simões M, Velders GJM, Gerlofs-Nijland M, Strak M, Jacobs J, Dijkema MBA, Hagenaars TJ, Smit LAM, Vermeulen R, Mughini-Gras L, Hogerwerf L, Klinkenberg D. Effects of long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution on COVID-19 incidence: A population-based cohort study accounting for SARS-CoV-2 exposure levels in the Netherlands. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 252:118812. [PMID: 38561121 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Several studies have linked air pollution to COVID-19 morbidity and severity. However, these studies do not account for exposure levels to SARS-CoV-2, nor for different sources of air pollution. We analyzed individual-level data for 8.3 million adults in the Netherlands to assess associations between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and SARS-CoV-2 infection (i.e., positive test) and COVID-19 hospitalisation risks, accounting for spatiotemporal variation in SARS-CoV-2 exposure levels during the first two major epidemic waves (February 2020-February 2021). We estimated average annual concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 at residential addresses, overall and by PM source (road traffic, industry, livestock, other agricultural sources, foreign sources, other Dutch sources), at 1 × 1 km resolution, and weekly SARS-CoV-2 exposure at municipal level. Using generalized additive models, we performed interval-censored survival analyses to assess associations between individuals' average exposure to PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 in the three years before the pandemic (2017-2019) and COVID-19-outcomes, adjusting for SARS-CoV-2 exposure, individual and area-specific confounders. In single-pollutant models, per interquartile (IQR) increase in exposure, PM10 was associated with 7% increased infection risk and 16% increased hospitalisation risk, PM2.5 with 8% increased infection risk and 18% increased hospitalisation risk, and NO2 with 3% increased infection risk and 11% increased hospitalisation risk. Bi-pollutant models suggested that effects were mainly driven by PM. Associations for PM were confirmed when stratifying by urbanization degree, epidemic wave and testing policy. All emission sources of PM, except industry, showed adverse effects on both outcomes. Livestock showed the most detrimental effects per unit exposure, whereas road traffic affected severity (hospitalisation) more than infection risk. This study shows that long-term exposure to air pollution increases both SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalisation risks, even after controlling for SARS-CoV-2 exposure levels, and that PM may have differential effects on these COVID-19 outcomes depending on the emission source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelle Zorn
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Mariana Simões
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Guus J M Velders
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Miriam Gerlofs-Nijland
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Maciek Strak
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - José Jacobs
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Marieke B A Dijkema
- Environment and Health in Overijssel and Gelderland, Public Health Services Gelderland-Midden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Lidwien A M Smit
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Roel Vermeulen
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Lapo Mughini-Gras
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Lenny Hogerwerf
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Don Klinkenberg
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
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Hajmohammadi H, Talaei M, Fecht D, Wang W, Vivaldi G, Faustini SE, Richter AG, Shaheen SO, Martineau AR, Sheikh A, Mudway IS, Griffiths CJ. Long-term air pollution exposure and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection: A UK-wide cohort study. Respir Med 2024; 224:107567. [PMID: 38423343 DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2024.107567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The association between air quality and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection is poorly understood. We investigated this association using serological individual-level data adjusting for a wide range of confounders, in a large population-based cohort (COVIDENCE UK). METHODS We assessed the associations between long-term (2015-19) nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), exposures with SARS-CoV-2 infection, level of antibody response among those infected, and COVID-19 disease severity. We used serological data from 10,489 participants in the COVIDENCE UK cohort, and estimated annual average air pollution exposure at each participant's home postcode. RESULTS After controlling for potential confounders, we found a positive association between 5-year NO2 and PM2.5 exposures and the risk of seropositivity: 10 unit increase in NO2 (μg/m3) was associated with an increasing risk of seropositivity by 1.092 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.17; p-for-trend 0.012). For PM2.5, 10 unit increase (μg/m3) was associated with an increasing risk of seropositivity by 1.65 (95% CI 1.015-2.68; p-for-trend 0·049). In addition, we found that NO2 was positively associated with higher antibody titres (p-for-trend 0·013) among seropositive participants, with no evidence of an association for PM2.5. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that the long-term burden of air pollution increased the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and has important implications for future pandemic preparedness. This evidence strengthens the case for reducing long-term air pollution exposures to reduce the vulnerability of individuals to respiratory viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hajar Hajmohammadi
- Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research, Centre for Primary Care, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
| | - Mohammad Talaei
- Centre for Prevention, Detection and Diagnosis, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Daniela Fecht
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Heath, Imperial College London, London, UK; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Weiyi Wang
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Heath, Imperial College London, London, UK; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Giulia Vivaldi
- Centre for Immunobiology, Blizard Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, UK
| | - Sian E Faustini
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Alex G Richter
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Seif O Shaheen
- Centre for Prevention, Detection and Diagnosis, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Adrian R Martineau
- Centre for Immunobiology, Blizard Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, UK
| | - Aziz Sheikh
- Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Ian S Mudway
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Heath, Imperial College London, London, UK; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards, Imperial College London, London, UK; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Exposures and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Christopher J Griffiths
- Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research, Centre for Primary Care, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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Li A, Zhang Q, Zhou L, Luo H, Yu K, Meng X, Chen R, Kan H. Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and incident gout: A prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 345:123540. [PMID: 38341067 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Gout is a chronic disorder characterized by the accumulation of uric acid in the body, leading to recurrent episodes of joint inflammation and pain. There remains a lack of studies investigating the association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and the incidence of gout. We conducted this prospective cohort study involving participants aged 38-70 from the UK Biobank who were enrolled in 2006-2010 and followed until 2023. Baseline residential concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), inhalable particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were predicted using land-use regression models. Cox proportional hazards models were employed to examine the relationship between air pollution and incident gout events. A total of 443,587 individuals were included in the analyses and a total of 6589 incident gout cases were identified over a follow-up of 6,130,439 person-years. There were significant associations between higher levels of air pollution and an increased incidence risk of gout. Higher risk of incident gout was associated with each interquartile range increase in concentrations of PM2.5 (hazard ratio:1.05, 95% confidence intervals: 1.02-1.09), PM10 (1.04, 1.00-1.07), NO2 (1.08, 1.05-1.12) and NOx (1.04, 1.02-1.07). The magnitude of associations was larger at higher concentrations. The association was more prominent among older adults, smokers, and individuals with lower and moderate physical activity. This prospective cohort study provides novel and compelling evidence of increased risk of incident gout associated with long-term air pollution exposures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anni Li
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Qingli Zhang
- Ministry of Education - Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Lu Zhou
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Huihuan Luo
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Kexin Yu
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Xia Meng
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Renjie Chen
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Haidong Kan
- School of Public Health, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Center for Children's Health, Shanghai 201102, China.
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Ranzani O, Alari A, Olmos S, Milà C, Rico A, Basagaña X, Dadvand P, Duarte-Salles T, Forastiere F, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Vivanco-Hidalgo RM, Tonne C. Who is more vulnerable to effects of long-term exposure to air pollution on COVID-19 hospitalisation? ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 185:108530. [PMID: 38422877 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Factors that shape individuals' vulnerability to the effects of air pollution on COVID-19 severity remain poorly understood. We evaluated whether the association between long-term exposure to ambient NO2, PM2.5, and PM10 and COVID-19 hospitalisation differs by age, sex, individual income, area-level socioeconomic status, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS We analysed a population-based cohort of 4,639,184 adults in Catalonia, Spain, during 2020. We fitted Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for several potential confounding factors and evaluated the interaction effect between vulnerability indicators and the 2019 annual average of NO2, PM2.5, and PM10. We evaluated interaction on both additive and multiplicative scales. RESULTS Overall, the association was additive between air pollution and the vulnerable groups. Air pollution and vulnerability indicators had a synergistic (greater than additive) effect for males and individuals with low income or living in the most deprived neighbourhoods. The Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction (RERI) was 0.21, 95 % CI, 0.15 to 0.27 for NO2 and 0.16, 95 % CI, 0.11 to 0.22 for PM2.5 for males; 0.13, 95 % CI, 0.09 to 0.18 for NO2 and 0.10, 95 % CI, 0.05 to 0.14 for PM2.5 for lower individual income and 0.17, 95 % CI, 0.12 to 0.22 for NO2 and 0.09, 95 % CI, 0.05 to 0.14 for PM2.5 for lower area-level socioeconomic status. Results for PM10 were similar to PM2.5. Results on multiplicative scale were inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS Long-term exposure to air pollution had a larger synergistic effect on COVID-19 hospitalisation for males and those with lower individual- and area-level socioeconomic status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Otavio Ranzani
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Anna Alari
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Olmos
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Carles Milà
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alex Rico
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Xavier Basagaña
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Payam Dadvand
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Talita Duarte-Salles
- Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l'Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Francesco Forastiere
- National Research Council, IFT, Palermo, Italy; Environmental Research Group, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Cathryn Tonne
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
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6
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Zhang S, Chen L, Qian ZM, Li D, Cai M, Wang C, Zhang Z, Vaughn MG, Keith AE, Li H, Lin H. Associations between air pollution and the risk of first admission and multiple readmissions for cardiovascular diseases. Heart 2024; 110:337-345. [PMID: 37673655 DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2023-322682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate the associations between air pollutants and the risk of admission and multiple readmission events for cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS A total of 285 009 participants free of CVD at baseline from the UK Biobank were included in this analysis. Four major cardiovascular admission events were identified during the follow-up: chronic ischaemic heart disease (CIHD), cerebrovascular disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure. We used Prentice, Williams and Peterson-Total Time model to examine the association between ambient air pollution and first admission, as well as multiple readmissions for these CVDs. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 12 years, 17 176 (6.03%) participants were hospitalised with CVDs, and 6203 (36.11%) patients with CVD had subsequent readmission events for CVDs. We observed significant associations between air pollution and both first admission and readmission for CVDs, with generally stronger associations on readmission for cardiovascular events. For example, the adjusted HRs for the first admission and subsequent readmission for cerebrovascular disease were 1.130 (95% CI 1.070 to 1.194) and 1.270 (95% CI 1.137 to 1.418) for each IQR increase of particulate matter with a diameter ≤2.5 µm. The corresponding HRs for CIHD were 1.060 (95% CI 1.008 to 1.114) and 1.120 (95% CI 1.070 to 1.171). Sex stratified analyses showed that the associations were generally more pronounced among females than males. CONCLUSION This study provides evidence that ambient air pollutants might play an important role in both first admission and readmission for cardiovascular events. In addition, patients with pre-existing CVDs may be more vulnerable to air pollution compared with healthy population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Lan Chen
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhengmin Min Qian
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Dan Li
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Miao Cai
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Chongjian Wang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
| | - Zilong Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Michael G Vaughn
- School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Amy E Keith
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Haitao Li
- Department of Social Medicine and Health Service Management, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Hualiang Lin
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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7
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Hossain MP, Zhou W, Leung MYT, Yuan HY. Association of air pollution and weather conditions during infection course with COVID-19 case fatality rate in the United Kingdom. Sci Rep 2024; 14:683. [PMID: 38182658 PMCID: PMC10770173 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50474-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Although the relationship between the environmental factors, such as weather conditions and air pollution, and COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR) has been found, the impacts of these factors to which infected cases are exposed at different infectious stages (e.g., virus exposure time, incubation period, and at or after symptom onset) are still unknown. Understanding this link can help reduce mortality rates. During the first wave of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom (UK), the CFR varied widely between and among the four countries of the UK, allowing such differential impacts to be assessed. We developed a generalized linear mixed-effect model combined with distributed lag nonlinear models to estimate the odds ratio of the weather factors (i.e., temperature, sunlight, relative humidity, and rainfall) and air pollution (i.e., ozone, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]) using data between March 26, 2020 and September 15, 2020 in the UK. After retrospectively time adjusted CFR was estimated using back-projection technique, the stepwise model selection method was used to choose the best model based on Akaike information criteria and the closeness between the predicted and observed values of CFR. The risk of death reached its maximum level when the low temperature (6 °C) occurred 1 day before (OR 1.59; 95% CI 1.52-1.63), prolonged sunlight duration (11-14 h) 3 days after (OR 1.24; 95% CI 1.18-1.30) and increased [Formula: see text] (19 μg/m3) 1 day after the onset of symptom (OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.09-1.16). After reopening, many COVID-19 cases will be identified after their symptoms appear. The findings highlight the importance of designing different preventive measures against severe illness or death considering the time before and after symptom onset.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Pear Hossain
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
- Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health Limited, Hong Kong Science Park, New Territories, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Wen Zhou
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Marco Y T Leung
- School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hsiang-Yu Yuan
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
- Centre for Applied One Health Research and Policy Advice, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions, China.
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8
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Yu K, Zhang Q, Wei Y, Chen R, Kan H. Global association between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 906:167542. [PMID: 37797765 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented challenge for global public health systems and exacerbates existing health disparities. Epidemiological evidence suggested a potential linkage between particulate and gaseous pollutants and COVID-19 mortality. We aimed to summarize the overall risk of COVID-19 mortality associated with ambient air pollutants over the short- and long-term. METHODS For the systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched five databases for studies evaluating the risk of COVID-19 mortality from exposure to air pollution. Inclusion of articles was assessed independently on the basis of research topic and availability of effect estimates. The risk estimates (relative risk) for each pollutant were pooled with a random-effect model. Potential heterogeneity was explored by subgroup analysis. Funnel plots and trim-and-fill methods were employed to assess and adjust for publication bias. FINDINGS The systematic review retrieved 2059 records, and finally included 43 original studies. PM2.5 (RR: 1.71, 95 % CI: 1.40-2.08, per 10 μg/m3 increase), NO2 (RR: 1.33, 1.07-1.65, per 10 ppb increase) and O3 (RR: 1.61, 1.00-2.57, per 10 ppb increase) were positively associated with COVID-19 mortality for long-term exposures. Accordingly, a higher risk of COVID-19 mortality was associated with PM2.5 (1.05, 1.02-1.08), PM10 (1.05, 1.01-1.08), and NO2 (1.40, 1.04-1.90) for short-term exposures. There was some heterogeneity across subgroups of income level and geographical areas. CONCLUSION Both long-term and short-term exposures to ambient air pollution may increase the risk of COVID-19 mortality. Future studies utilizing individual-level information on demographics, exposures, outcome ascertainment and confounders are warranted to improve the accuracy of estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kexin Yu
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qingli Zhang
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuhao Wei
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Renjie Chen
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Haidong Kan
- School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Center for Children's Health, Shanghai, China.
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9
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Feng B, Lian J, Yu F, Zhang D, Chen W, Wang Q, Shen Y, Xie G, Wang R, Teng Y, Lou B, Zheng S, Yang Y, Chen Y. Impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on the risk of severe COVID-19. J Environ Sci (China) 2024; 135:610-618. [PMID: 37778832 PMCID: PMC9550293 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2022.09.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Ecological studies suggested a link between air pollution and severe COVID-19 outcomes, while studies accounting for individual-level characteristics are limited. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on disease severity among a cohort of 569 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to designated hospitals in Zhejiang province, China, from January 17 to March 3, 2020, and elucidate the possible biological processes involved using transcriptomics. Compared with mild cases, severe cases had higher proportion of medical conditions as well as unfavorable results in most of the laboratory tests, and manifested higher air pollution exposure levels. Higher exposure to air pollutants was associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 with odds ratio (OR) of 1.89 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 3.53), 2.35 (95% CI: 1.20, 4.61), 2.87 (95% CI: 1.68, 4.91), and 2.01 (95% CI: 1.10, 3.69) for PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO, respectively. OR for NO2 remained significant in two-pollutant models after adjusting for other pollutants. Transcriptional analysis showed 884 differentially expressed genes which mainly were enriched in virus clearance related biological processes between patients with high and low NO2 exposure levels, indicating that compromised immune response might be a potential underlying mechanistic pathway. These findings highlight the impact of short-term air pollution exposure, particularly for NO2, on COVID-19 severity, and emphasize the significance in mitigating the COVID-19 burden of commitments to improve air quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baihuan Feng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Jiangshan Lian
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Fei Yu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Dan Zhang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Weizhen Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Qi Wang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Yifei Shen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Guoliang Xie
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Ruonan Wang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Yun Teng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Bin Lou
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Shufa Zheng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China.
| | - Yida Yang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China.
| | - Yu Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China; Key Laboratory of Clinical In Vitro Diagnostic Techniques of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, China; Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China; State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310000, China.
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10
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Houweling L, Maitland-Van der Zee AH, Holtjer JCS, Bazdar S, Vermeulen RCH, Downward GS, Bloemsma LD. The effect of the urban exposome on COVID-19 health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 240:117351. [PMID: 37852458 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The global severity of SARS-CoV-2 illness has been associated with various urban characteristics, including exposure to ambient air pollutants. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to synthesize findings from ecological and non-ecological studies to investigate the impact of multiple urban-related features on a variety of COVID-19 health outcomes. METHODS On December 5, 2022, PubMed was searched to identify all types of observational studies that examined one or more urban exposome characteristics in relation to various COVID-19 health outcomes such as infection severity, the need for hospitalization, ICU admission, COVID pneumonia, and mortality. RESULTS A total of 38 non-ecological and 241 ecological studies were included in this review. Non-ecological studies highlighted the significant effects of population density, urbanization, and exposure to ambient air pollutants, particularly PM2.5. The meta-analyses revealed that a 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 hospitalization (pooled OR 1.08 (95% CI:1.02-1.14)) and death (pooled OR 1.06 (95% CI:1.03-1.09)). Ecological studies, in addition to confirming the findings of non-ecological studies, also indicated that higher exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO), as well as lower ambient temperature, humidity, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and less green and blue space exposure, were associated with increased COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. CONCLUSION This systematic review has identified several key vulnerability features related to urban areas in the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The findings underscore the importance of improving policies related to urban exposures and implementing measures to protect individuals from these harmful environmental stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Houweling
- Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Dept. of Pulmonary Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Anke-Hilse Maitland-Van der Zee
- Dept. of Pulmonary Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Judith C S Holtjer
- Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Somayeh Bazdar
- Dept. of Pulmonary Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Roel C H Vermeulen
- Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - George S Downward
- Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Lizan D Bloemsma
- Dept. of Pulmonary Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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11
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Nakhjirgan P, Kashani H, Kermani M. Exposure to outdoor particulate matter and risk of respiratory diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH 2023; 46:20. [PMID: 38153542 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-023-01807-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
According to epidemiological studies, particulate matter (PM) is an important air pollutant that poses a significant threat to human health. The relationship between particulate matter and respiratory diseases has been the subject of numerous studies, but these studies have produced inconsistent findings. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the connection between outdoor particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) exposure and respiratory disorders (COPD, lung cancer, LRIs, and COVID-19). For this purpose, we conducted a literature search between 2012 and 2022 in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Out of the 58 studies that were part of the systematic review, meta-analyses were conducted on 53 of them. A random effect model was applied separately for each category of study design to assess the pooled association between exposure to PM2.5 and PM10 and respiratory diseases. Based on time-series and cohort studies, which are the priorities of the strength of evidence, a significant relationship between the risk of respiratory diseases (COPD, lung cancer, and COVID-19) was observed (COPD: pooled HR = 1.032, 95% CI: 1.004-1.061; lung cancer: pooled HR = 1.017, 95% CI: 1.015-1.020; and COVID-19: pooled RR = 1.004, 95% CI: 1.002-1.006 per 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5). Also, a significant relationship was observed between PM10 and respiratory diseases (COPD, LRIs, and COVID-19) based on time-series and cohort studies. Although the number of studies in this field is limited, which requires more investigations, it can be concluded that outdoor particulate matter can increase the risk of respiratory diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pegah Nakhjirgan
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Homa Kashani
- Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Majid Kermani
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
- Research Center for Environmental Health Technology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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12
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Wagatsuma K. Association of Ambient Temperature and Absolute Humidity with the Effective Reproduction Number of COVID-19 in Japan. Pathogens 2023; 12:1307. [PMID: 38003771 PMCID: PMC10675148 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12111307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 10/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to quantify the exposure-lag-response relationship between short-term changes in ambient temperature and absolute humidity and the transmission dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Japan. The prefecture-specific daily time-series of newly confirmed cases, meteorological variables, retail and recreation mobility, and Government Stringency Index were collected for all 47 prefectures of Japan for the study period from 15 February 2020 to 15 October 2022. Generalized conditional Gamma regression models were formulated with distributed lag nonlinear models by adopting the case-time-series design to assess the independent and interactive effects of ambient temperature and absolute humidity on the relative risk (RR) of the time-varying effective reproductive number (Rt). With reference to 17.8 °C, the corresponding cumulative RRs (95% confidence interval) at a mean ambient temperatures of 5.1 °C and 27.9 °C were 1.027 (1.016-1.038) and 0.982 (0.974-0.989), respectively, whereas those at an absolute humidity of 4.2 m/g3 and 20.6 m/g3 were 1.026 (1.017-1.036) and 0.995 (0.985-1.006), respectively, with reference to 10.6 m/g3. Both extremely hot and humid conditions synergistically and slightly reduced the Rt. Our findings provide a better understanding of how meteorological drivers shape the complex heterogeneous dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Japan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keita Wagatsuma
- Division of International Health (Public Health), Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata 951-8510, Japan; ; Tel.: +81-25-227-2129
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
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13
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Fedrizzi L, Carugno M, Consonni D, Lombardi A, Bandera A, Bono P, Ceriotti F, Gori A, Pesatori AC. Air pollution exposure, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and immune response in a cohort of healthcare workers of a large university hospital in Milan, Italy. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 236:116755. [PMID: 37517490 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Several studies have examined the possible relationship between air pollutants and the risk of COVID-19 but most returned controversial findings. We tried to assess the association between (short- and long-term) exposure to particulate and gaseous pollutants, SARS-CoV-2 infections, and immune response in a population of healthcare workers (HCWs) with well-characterized individual data. We collected occupational and clinical characteristics of all HCWs who performed a nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) for detecting SARS-CoV-2 at the Policlinico Hospital in Milan (Lombardy, Italy) between February 24, 2020 (day after first documented case of COVID-19 in our hospital) and December 26, 2020 (day before start of the vaccination campaign). Each subject was assigned daily average levels of particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) retrieved from the air quality monitoring station closest to his/her residential address. Air pollution data were treated as time-dependent variables, generating person-days at risk. Multivariate Poisson regression models were fit to evaluate the rate of positive NPS and to assess the association between air pollution and antibody titer among NPS-positive HCWs. Among 3712 included HCWs, 635 (17.1%) had at least one positive NPS. A 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 average concentration in the four days preceding NPS was associated with a higher risk of testing positive [Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) = 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01; 1.16)]. When considering a 1 μg/m3 increase in 2019 annual NO2 average, we observed a higher risk of infection (IRR: 1.02, 95%CI: 1.00; 1.03) and an increased antibody titer (+2.4%, 95%CI: 1.1; 3.6%). Findings on PM10 and O3 were less consistent and, differently from NO2, were not confirmed in multipollutant models. Our study increases the body of evidence suggesting an active role of air pollution exposure on SARS-CoV-2 infection and confirms the importance of implementing pollution reduction policies to improve public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Fedrizzi
- Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Carugno
- Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
| | - Dario Consonni
- Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Lombardi
- Infectious Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandra Bandera
- Infectious Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Patrizia Bono
- Clinical Laboratory, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Ferruccio Ceriotti
- Clinical Laboratory, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Gori
- Infectious Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Angela Cecilia Pesatori
- Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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14
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Saleh SAK, Adly HM. Impact of Ambient Air Pollution Exposure on Long COVID-19 Symptoms: A Cohort Study within the Saudi Arabian Population. Infect Dis Rep 2023; 15:642-661. [PMID: 37888141 PMCID: PMC10606867 DOI: 10.3390/idr15050060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence suggests that air pollution, specifically the particulate matters PM2.5 and PM10, plays a key role in exacerbating the risk of prolonged symptoms following COVID-19 infection. AIM This study endeavors to elucidate the potential interaction between chronic air pollution exposure and the manifestation of long COVID symptoms within a cohort based in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS Participants included residents from the Makkah region who had recovered from COVID-19 between 2022 and 2023. A comprehensive questionnaire was utilized to gather detailed demographic data and assess the persistent symptoms seen during the post-COVID period. To gauge the environmental exposure to potential risk factors, air sampling for PM10 and PM2.5 was systematically conducted in various locations in Makkah over a year. RESULTS Significant positive associations were found between PM2.5 and PM10 exposure and long COVID. Furthermore, specific symptom analysis revealed a significant association between air pollution and shortness of breath (for PM2.5). Only PM2.5 exposure remained statistically significant (RR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.67). In contrast, the association with PM10 remained on the cusp of significance, with an RR of 1.27 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.61). CONCLUSION This study highlights the importance of reducing air pollution levels to mitigate the long-term health consequences of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saleh A. K. Saleh
- Biochemistry Department, College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia;
- Oncology Diagnostic Unit, College of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11435, Egypt
| | - Heba M. Adly
- Community Medicine and Pilgrims Healthcare Department, College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia
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15
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Ren C, Wang J, Feng Z, Kim MK, Haghighat F, Cao SJ. Refined design of ventilation systems to mitigate infection risk in hospital wards: Perspective from ventilation openings setting. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 333:122025. [PMID: 37336354 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
To prevent respiratory infections between patients and medical workers, the transmission risk of airborne pollutants in hospital wards must be mitigated. The ventilation modes, which are regarded as an important strategy to minimize the infection risk, are challenging to be systematically designed. Studies have considered the effect of ventilation openings (inlets/outlets) or infected source locations on the airflow distribution, pollutant removal, and infection risk mitigation. However, the relationship (such as relative distance) between ventilation openings and infected sources is critical because it affects the direct exhaust of exhaled pollutants, which has not been thoroughly studied. To explore pollutant removal and infection prevention in wards, different ventilation modes (with varying ventilation openings) and infected patient locations must be jointly considered. This study investigated displacement ventilation (DV), downward ventilation (DWV), and stratum ventilation (SV) with 4, 6, and 10 scenarios of ventilation openings, respectively. The optimal ventilation mode and relative distance between outlets and infected patients were analyzed based on the simulated pollutant concentration fields and the evaluated infection risk. The pollutant removal effect and infection risk mitigation of SV in the ward were largely improved by 75% and 59% compared with DV and DWV, respectively. The average infection risk was reduced below 7% when a non-dimensional relative distance (a ratio of the actual distance to the cubic root of the ward volume) was less than 0.25 between outlets and infected patient. This study can serve as a guide for the systematic ventilation system design in hospitals during the epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Ren
- School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Junqi Wang
- School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, China.
| | - Zhuangbo Feng
- School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Moon Keun Kim
- Department of Civil Engineering and Energy Technology, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, 0130, Norway
| | - Fariborz Haghighat
- Energy and Environment Group, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, H3G 1M8, Canada
| | - Shi-Jie Cao
- School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China; Global Centre for Clean Air Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
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16
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Tang L, Li D, Wang J, Su B, Tian Y. Ambient air pollution, genetic risk and telomere length in UK biobank. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2023:10.1038/s41370-023-00587-1. [PMID: 37550565 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-023-00587-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker of genomic aging. The evidence on the association between TL and air pollution was inconsistent. Besides, the modification effect of genetic susceptibility on the air pollution-TL association remains unknown. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the association of ambient air pollution with TL and further assess the modification effect of genetic susceptibility. METHODS 433,535 participants with complete data of TL and air pollutants in UK Biobank were included. Annual average exposure of NO2, NOx, PM10 and PM2.5 was estimated by applying land use regression models. Genetic risk score (GRS) was constructed using reported telomere-related SNPs. Leukocyte TL was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Multivariable linear regression models were employed to conduct associational analyses. RESULTS Categorical exposure models and RCS models both indicated U-shaped (for NO2 and NOx) and L-shaped (for PM10 and PM2.5) correlations between air pollution and TL. In comparison to the lowest quartile, the 2nd and 3rd quartile of NO2 (q2: -1.3% [-2.1%, -0.4%]; q3: -1.2% [-2.0%, -0.3%], NOx (q2: -1.3% [-2.1%, -0.5%]; q3: -1.4% [-2.2%, -0.5%]), PM2.5 (q2: -0.8% [-1.7%, 0.0%]; q3: -1.3% [-2.2%, -0.5%]), and the third quartile of PM10 (q3: -1.1% [-1.9%, -0.2%]) were inversely associated with TL. The highest quartile of NO2 was positively correlated with TL (q4: 1.0% [0.0%, 2.0%]), whereas the negative correlation between the highest quartile of other pollutants and TL was also attenuated and no longer significant. In the genetic analyses, synergistic interactions were observed between the 4th quartile of three air pollutants (NO2, NOx, and PM2.5) and genetic risk. IMPACT STATEMENT Our study for the first time revealed a non-linear trend for the association between air pollution and telomere length. The genetic analyses suggested synergistic interactions between air pollution and genetic risk on the air pollution-TL association. These findings may shed new light on air pollution's health effects, offer suggestions for identifying at-risk individuals, and provide hints regarding further investigation into gene-environment interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linxi Tang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China
- Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China
| | - Dankang Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China
- Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China
| | - Jianing Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China
- Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China
| | - Binbin Su
- School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College, No.31, Beijige-3, Dongcheng District, 100730, Beijing, China.
| | - Yaohua Tian
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China.
- Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, 430030, Wuhan, China.
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Woodward SM, Mork D, Wu X, Hou Z, Braun D, Dominici F. Combining aggregate and individual-level data to estimate individual-level associations between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 3:e0002178. [PMID: 37531330 PMCID: PMC10395946 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Imposing stricter regulations for PM2.5 has the potential to mitigate damaging health and climate change effects. Recent evidence establishing a link between exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 outcomes is one of many arguments for the need to reduce the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5. However, many studies reporting a relationship between COVID-19 outcomes and PM2.5 have been criticized because they are based on ecological regression analyses, where area-level counts of COVID-19 outcomes are regressed on area-level exposure to air pollution and other covariates. It is well known that regression models solely based on area-level data are subject to ecological bias, i.e., they may provide a biased estimate of the association at the individual-level, due to within-area variability of the data. In this paper, we augment county-level COVID-19 mortality data with a nationally representative sample of individual-level covariate information from the American Community Survey along with high-resolution estimates of PM2.5 concentrations obtained from a validated model and aggregated to the census tract for the contiguous United States. We apply a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach to combine county-, census tract-, and individual-level data to ultimately draw inference about individual-level associations between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality for COVID-19. By analyzing data prior to the Emergency Use Authorization for the COVID-19 vaccines we found that an increase of 1 μg/m3 in long-term PM2.5 exposure, averaged over the 17-year period 2000-2016, is associated with a 3.3% (95% credible interval, 2.8 to 3.8%) increase in an individual's odds of COVID-19 mortality. Code to reproduce our study is publicly available at https://github.com/NSAPH/PM_COVID_ecoinference. The results confirm previous evidence of an association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and COVID-19 mortality and strengthen the case for tighter regulations on harmful air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie M. Woodward
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Daniel Mork
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Xiao Wu
- Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Zhewen Hou
- Department of Statistics, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Danielle Braun
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Data Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Francesca Dominici
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
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18
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Zhang J, Lim YH, So R, Jørgensen JT, Mortensen LH, Napolitano GM, Cole-Hunter T, Loft S, Bhatt S, Hoek G, Brunekreef B, Westendorp R, Ketzel M, Brandt J, Lange T, Kølsen-Fisher T, Andersen ZJ. Long-term exposure to air pollution and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalisation or death: Danish nationwide cohort study. Eur Respir J 2023; 62:2300280. [PMID: 37343976 PMCID: PMC10288813 DOI: 10.1183/13993003.00280-2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early ecological studies have suggested links between air pollution and risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but evidence from individual-level cohort studies is still sparse. We examined whether long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with risk of COVID-19 and who is most susceptible. METHODS We followed 3 721 810 Danish residents aged ≥30 years on 1 March 2020 in the National COVID-19 Surveillance System until the date of first positive test (incidence), COVID-19 hospitalisation or death until 26 April 2021. We estimated residential annual mean particulate matter with diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon (BC) and ozone (O3) in 2019 by the Danish DEHM/UBM model, and used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate the associations of air pollutants with COVID-19 outcomes, adjusting for age, sex, individual- and area-level socioeconomic status, and population density. RESULTS 138 742 individuals were infected, 11 270 were hospitalised and 2557 died from COVID-19 during 14 months. We detected associations of PM2.5 (per 0.53 μg·m-3) and NO2 (per 3.59 μg·m-3) with COVID-19 incidence (hazard ratio (HR) 1.10 (95% CI 1.05-1.14) and HR 1.18 (95% CI 1.14-1.23), respectively), hospitalisations (HR 1.09 (95% CI 1.01-1.17) and HR 1.19 (95% CI 1.12-1.27), respectively) and death (HR 1.23 (95% CI 1.04-1.44) and HR 1.18 (95% CI 1.03-1.34), respectively), which were strongest in the lowest socioeconomic groups and among patients with chronic respiratory, cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. We found positive associations with BC and negative associations with O3. CONCLUSION Long-term exposure to air pollution may contribute to increased risk of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection as well as developing severe COVID-19 disease requiring hospitalisation or resulting in death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawei Zhang
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Youn-Hee Lim
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Rina So
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jeanette T Jørgensen
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Laust H Mortensen
- Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Statistics Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - George M Napolitano
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Thomas Cole-Hunter
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Steffen Loft
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Samir Bhatt
- Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Jameel Institute, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Gerard Hoek
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Bert Brunekreef
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Rudi Westendorp
- Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Matthias Ketzel
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
- Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Jørgen Brandt
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
- iCLIMATE, Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Theis Lange
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Thea Kølsen-Fisher
- Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Research, Nordsjaellands Hospital, Hilleroed, Denmark
| | - Zorana Jovanovic Andersen
- Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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19
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Ranzani O, Alari A, Olmos S, Milà C, Rico A, Ballester J, Basagaña X, Chaccour C, Dadvand P, Duarte-Salles T, Foraster M, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Sunyer J, Valentín A, Kogevinas M, Lazcano U, Avellaneda-Gómez C, Vivanco R, Tonne C. Long-term exposure to air pollution and severe COVID-19 in Catalonia: a population-based cohort study. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2916. [PMID: 37225741 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38469-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollutants and severe COVID-19 is uncertain. We followed 4,660,502 adults from the general population in 2020 in Catalonia, Spain. Cox proportional models were fit to evaluate the association between annual averages of PM2.5, NO2, BC, and O3 at each participant's residential address and severe COVID-19. Higher exposure to PM2.5, NO2, and BC was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalization, ICU admission, death, and hospital length of stay. An increase of 3.2 µg/m3 of PM2.5 was associated with a 19% (95% CI, 16-21) increase in hospitalizations. An increase of 16.1 µg/m3 of NO2 was associated with a 42% (95% CI, 30-55) increase in ICU admissions. An increase of 0.7 µg/m3 of BC was associated with a 6% (95% CI, 0-13) increase in deaths. O3 was positively associated with severe outcomes when adjusted by NO2. Our study contributes robust evidence that long-term exposure to air pollutants is associated with severe COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Otavio Ranzani
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Anna Alari
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Olmos
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Carles Milà
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alex Rico
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Joan Ballester
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Basagaña
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Carlos Chaccour
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- CIBER Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Payam Dadvand
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Talita Duarte-Salles
- Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l'Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Foraster
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- PHAGEX Research Group, Blanquerna School of Health Science, Universitat Ramon Llull (URL), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Jordi Sunyer
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Antònia Valentín
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Manolis Kogevinas
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Uxue Lazcano
- Instituto Biodonostia, Grupo Atención Primaria, San Sebastian, Spain
- Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Rosa Vivanco
- Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cathryn Tonne
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
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20
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Bernhard GH, Madronich S, Lucas RM, Byrne SN, Schikowski T, Neale RE. Linkages between COVID-19, solar UV radiation, and the Montreal Protocol. Photochem Photobiol Sci 2023; 22:991-1009. [PMID: 36995652 PMCID: PMC10062285 DOI: 10.1007/s43630-023-00373-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
There are several connections between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), solar UV radiation, and the Montreal Protocol. Exposure to ambient solar UV radiation inactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. An action spectrum describing the wavelength dependence of the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by UV and visible radiation has recently been published. In contrast to action spectra that have been assumed in the past for estimating the effect of UV radiation on SARS-CoV-2, the new action spectrum has a large sensitivity in the UV-A (315-400 nm) range. If this "UV-A tail" is correct, solar UV radiation could be much more efficient in inactivating the virus responsible for COVID-19 than previously thought. Furthermore, the sensitivity of inactivation rates to the total column ozone would be reduced because ozone absorbs only a small amount of UV-A radiation. Using solar simulators, the times for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 have been determined by several groups; however, many measurements are affected by poorly defined experimental setups. The most reliable data suggest that 90% of viral particles embedded in saliva are inactivated within ~ 7 min by solar radiation for a solar zenith angle (SZA) of 16.5° and within ~ 13 min for a SZA of 63.4°. Slightly longer inactivation times were found for aerosolised virus particles. These times can become considerably longer during cloudy conditions or if virus particles are shielded from solar radiation. Many publications have provided evidence of an inverse relationship between ambient solar UV radiation and the incidence or severity of COVID-19, but the reasons for these negative correlations have not been unambiguously identified and could also be explained by confounders, such as ambient temperature, humidity, visible radiation, daylength, temporal changes in risk and disease management, and the proximity of people to other people. Meta-analyses of observational studies indicate inverse associations between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 positivity or severity of COVID-19, although the quality of these studies is largely low. Mendelian randomisation studies have not found statistically significant evidence of a causal effect of 25(OH)D concentration on COVID-19 susceptibility or severity, but a potential link between vitamin D status and disease severity cannot be excluded as some randomised trials suggest that vitamin D supplementation is beneficial for people admitted to a hospital. Several studies indicate significant positive associations between air pollution and COVID-19 incidence and fatality rates. Conversely, well-established cohort studies indicate no association between long-term exposure to air pollution and infection with SARS-CoV-2. By limiting increases in UV radiation, the Montreal Protocol has also suppressed the inactivation rates of pathogens exposed to UV radiation. However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the expected larger inactivation rates without the Montreal Protocol would have had tangible consequences on the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- G H Bernhard
- Biospherical Instruments Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - S Madronich
- Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, USA
| | - R M Lucas
- National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - S N Byrne
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, School of Medical Sciences, Sydney, Australia
| | - T Schikowski
- Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - R E Neale
- Population Health Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
- School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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21
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Bernhard GH, Bais AF, Aucamp PJ, Klekociuk AR, Liley JB, McKenzie RL. Stratospheric ozone, UV radiation, and climate interactions. Photochem Photobiol Sci 2023; 22:937-989. [PMID: 37083996 PMCID: PMC10120513 DOI: 10.1007/s43630-023-00371-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
This assessment provides a comprehensive update of the effects of changes in stratospheric ozone and other factors (aerosols, surface reflectivity, solar activity, and climate) on the intensity of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at the Earth's surface. The assessment is performed in the context of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its Amendments and Adjustments. Changes in UV radiation at low- and mid-latitudes (0-60°) during the last 25 years have generally been small (e.g., typically less than 4% per decade, increasing at some sites and decreasing at others) and were mostly driven by changes in cloud cover and atmospheric aerosol content, caused partly by climate change and partly by measures to control tropospheric pollution. Without the Montreal Protocol, erythemal (sunburning) UV irradiance at northern and southern latitudes of less than 50° would have increased by 10-20% between 1996 and 2020. For southern latitudes exceeding 50°, the UV Index (UVI) would have surged by between 25% (year-round at the southern tip of South America) and more than 100% (South Pole in spring). Variability of erythemal irradiance in Antarctica was very large during the last four years. In spring 2019, erythemal UV radiation was at the minimum of the historical (1991-2018) range at the South Pole, while near record-high values were observed in spring 2020, which were up to 80% above the historical mean. In the Arctic, some of the highest erythemal irradiances on record were measured in March and April 2020. For example in March 2020, the monthly average UVI over a site in the Canadian Arctic was up to 70% higher than the historical (2005-2019) average, often exceeding this mean by three standard deviations. Under the presumption that all countries will adhere to the Montreal Protocol in the future and that atmospheric aerosol concentrations remain constant, erythemal irradiance at mid-latitudes (30-60°) is projected to decrease between 2015 and 2090 by 2-5% in the north and by 4-6% in the south due to recovering ozone. Changes projected for the tropics are ≤ 3%. However, in industrial regions that are currently affected by air pollution, UV radiation will increase as measures to reduce air pollutants will gradually restore UV radiation intensities to those of a cleaner atmosphere. Since most substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol are also greenhouse gases, the phase-out of these substances may have avoided warming by 0.5-1.0 °C over mid-latitude regions of the continents, and by more than 1.0 °C in the Arctic; however, the uncertainty of these calculations is large. We also assess the effects of changes in stratospheric ozone on climate, focusing on the poleward shift of climate zones, and discuss the role of the small Antarctic ozone hole in 2019 on the devastating "Black Summer" fires in Australia. Additional topics include the assessment of advances in measuring and modeling of UV radiation; methods for determining personal UV exposure; the effect of solar radiation management (stratospheric aerosol injections) on UV radiation relevant for plants; and possible revisions to the vitamin D action spectrum, which describes the wavelength dependence of the synthesis of previtamin D3 in human skin upon exposure to UV radiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- G H Bernhard
- Biospherical Instruments Inc, San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - A F Bais
- Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Department of Physics, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
| | - P J Aucamp
- Ptersa Environmental Consultants, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - A R Klekociuk
- Antarctic Climate Program, Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Australia
| | - J B Liley
- National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, Lauder, New Zealand
| | - R L McKenzie
- National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, Lauder, New Zealand
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22
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Stafoggia M, Ranzi A, Ancona C, Bauleo L, Bella A, Cattani G, Nobile F, Pezzotti P, Iavarone I. Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Mortality among Four Million COVID-19 Cases in Italy: The EpiCovAir Study. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:57004. [PMID: 37167483 PMCID: PMC10174641 DOI: 10.1289/ehp11882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The role of chronic exposure to ambient air pollutants in increasing COVID-19 fatality is still unclear. OBJECTIVES The study aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to air pollutants and mortality among 4 million COVID-19 cases in Italy. METHODS We obtained individual records of all COVID-19 cases identified in Italy from February 2020 to June 2021. We assigned 2016-2019 mean concentrations of particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter ≤10μm (PM10), PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5μm (PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) to each municipality (n=7,800) as estimates of chronic exposures. We applied a principal component analysis (PCA) and a generalized propensity score (GPS) approach to an extensive list of area-level covariates to account for major determinants of the spatial distribution of COVID-19 case-fatality rates. Then, we applied generalized negative binomial models matched on GPS, age, sex, province, and month. As additional analyses, we fit separate models by pandemic periods, age, and sex; we quantified the numbers of COVID-19 deaths attributable to exceedances in annual air pollutant concentrations above predefined thresholds; and we explored associations between air pollution and alternative outcomes of COVID-19 severity, namely hospitalizations or accesses to intensive care units. RESULTS We analyzed 3,995,202 COVID-19 cases, which generated 124,346 deaths. Overall, case-fatality rates increased by 0.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.5%, 0.9%], 0.3% (95% CI: 0.2%, 0.5%), and 0.6% (95% CI: 0.5%, 0.8%) per 1 μg/m3 increment in PM2.5, PM10, and NO2, respectively. Associations were higher among elderly subjects and during the first (February 2020-June 2020) and the third (December 2020-June 2021) pandemic waves. We estimated ∼8% COVID-19 deaths were attributable to pollutant levels above the World Health Organization 2021 air quality guidelines. DISCUSSION We found suggestive evidence of an association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollutants with mortality among 4 million COVID-19 cases in Italy. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11882.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Stafoggia
- Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Region Health Service/ASL Roma 1, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Ranzi
- Environmental Health Reference Centre, Regional Agency for Environmental Prevention of Emilia-Romagna, Modena, Italy
| | - Carla Ancona
- Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Region Health Service/ASL Roma 1, Rome, Italy
| | - Lisa Bauleo
- Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Region Health Service/ASL Roma 1, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Giorgio Cattani
- Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Nobile
- Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Region Health Service/ASL Roma 1, Rome, Italy
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23
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Ma R, Shi L, Sun G. Policy Disparities Between Singapore and Israel in Response to the First Omicron Wave. Risk Manag Healthc Policy 2023; 16:489-502. [PMID: 37035268 PMCID: PMC10078824 DOI: 10.2147/rmhp.s402813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate public health measures during the first Omicron wave in Singapore and Israel to inform other countries confronted by COVID-19 outbreaks. Methods A comparative analysis was conducted using epidemiological data from Singapore and Israel between November 25th, 2021 and May 2nd, 2022 and policy information to examine the effects of public health measures in the two countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Public health measures implemented by Singapore and Israel in response to the first Omicron wave were primarily intended to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Singapore, the pandemic led to more than 910,000 confirmed cases, a mortality rate of approximately 0.047%, a hospitalization rate of approximately 10.95%, and a severe illness rate of approximately 0.48%, without a second peak. In Israel, the pandemic not only resulted in over 2.74 million confirmed cases, a mortality rate of 0.095%, a hospitalization rate of about 7.39%, and a severe illness rate of approximately 2.30% but also returned after the significant relaxation of prevention regulations from March 1st, 2022. Conclusion Early and strict border control measures and surveillance measures are more effective in preventing and controlling the rapid spread of new strains of COVID-19 in the early stage. Furthermore, to prevent and control this highly infectious disease, COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots must be promoted as soon as possible, medical service capacity must be enhanced, the hierarchical medical system must be improved, and non-pharmacological interventions must be implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongcai Ma
- Department of Health Management, School of Health Management, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, People’s Republic of China
| | - Leiyu Shi
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Gang Sun
- Department of Health Management, School of Health Management, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, People’s Republic of China
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Correspondence: Gang Sun, Department of Health Management, School of Health Management, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, People’s Republic of China, Email
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24
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Kogevinas M, Karachaliou M, Espinosa A, Aguilar R, Castaño-Vinyals G, Garcia-Aymerich J, Carreras A, Cortés B, Pleguezuelos V, Papantoniou K, Rubio R, Jiménez A, Vidal M, Serra P, Parras D, Santamaría P, Izquierdo L, Cirach M, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Dadvand P, Straif K, Moncunill G, de Cid R, Dobaño C, Tonne C. Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and COVID-19 Vaccine Antibody Response in a General Population Cohort (COVICAT Study, Catalonia). ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:47001. [PMID: 37017430 PMCID: PMC10075082 DOI: 10.1289/ehp11989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ambient air pollution has been associated with COVID-19 disease severity and antibody response induced by infection. OBJECTIVES We examined the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and vaccine-induced antibody response. METHODS This study was nested in an ongoing population-based cohort, COVICAT, the GCAT-Genomes for Life cohort, in Catalonia, Spain, with multiple follow-ups. We drew blood samples in 2021 from 1,090 participants of 2,404 who provided samples in 2020, and we included 927 participants in this analysis. We measured immunoglobulin M (IgM), IgG, and IgA antibodies against five viral-target antigens, including receptor-binding domain (RBD), spike-protein (S), and segment spike-protein (S2) triggered by vaccines available in Spain. We estimated prepandemic (2018-2019) exposure to fine particulate matter [PM ≤2.5μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5)], nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon (BC), and ozone (O3) using Effects of Low-Level Air Pollution: A Study in Europe (ELAPSE) models. We adjusted estimates for individual- and area-level covariates, time since vaccination, and vaccine doses and type and stratified by infection status. We used generalized additive models to explore the relationship between air pollution and antibodies according to days since vaccination. RESULTS Among vaccinated persons not infected by SARS-CoV-2 (n=632), higher prepandemic air pollution levels were associated with a lower vaccine antibody response for IgM (1 month post vaccination) and IgG. Percentage change in geometric mean IgG levels per interquartile range of PM2.5 (1.7 μg/m3) were -8.1 (95% CI: -15.9, 0.4) for RBD, -9.9 (-16.2, -3.1) for S, and -8.4 (-13.5, -3.0) for S2. We observed a similar pattern for NO2 and BC and an inverse pattern for O3. Differences in IgG levels by air pollution levels persisted with time since vaccination. We did not observe an association of air pollution with vaccine antibody response among participants with prior infection (n=295). DISCUSSION Exposure to air pollution was associated with lower COVID-19 vaccine antibody response. The implications of this association on the risk of breakthrough infections require further investigation. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11989.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manolis Kogevinas
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Ana Espinosa
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ruth Aguilar
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Castaño-Vinyals
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Judith Garcia-Aymerich
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Carreras
- Genomes for Life-GCAT lab Group, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
| | - Beatriz Cortés
- Genomes for Life-GCAT lab Group, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
| | | | - Kyriaki Papantoniou
- Department of Epidemiology, Center of Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Rocío Rubio
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alfons Jiménez
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marta Vidal
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pau Serra
- Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniel Parras
- Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pere Santamaría
- Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Luis Izquierdo
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Enfermedades Infecciosas, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Cirach
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Payam Dadvand
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kurt Straif
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Moncunill
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Enfermedades Infecciosas, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rafael de Cid
- Genomes for Life-GCAT lab Group, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
| | - Carlota Dobaño
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Enfermedades Infecciosas, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cathryn Tonne
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
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Li D, Xie J, Wang L, Sun Y, Hu Y, Tian Y. Genetic susceptibility and lifestyle modify the association of long-term air pollution exposure on major depressive disorder: a prospective study in UK Biobank. BMC Med 2023; 21:67. [PMID: 36810050 PMCID: PMC9945634 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-023-02783-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evidence linking air pollution to major depressive disorder (MDD) remains sparse and results are heterogeneous. In addition, the evidence about the interaction and joint associations of genetic risk and lifestyle with air pollution on incident MDD risk remains unclear. We aimed to examine the association of various air pollutants with the risk of incident MDD and assessed whether genetic susceptibility and lifestyle influence the associations. METHODS This population-based prospective cohort study analyzed data collected between March 2006 and October 2010 from 354,897 participants aged 37 to 73 years from the UK Biobank. Annual average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and NOx were estimated using a Land Use Regression model. A lifestyle score was determined based on a combination of smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, television viewing time, sleep duration, and diet. A polygenic risk score (PRS) was defined using 17 MDD-associated genetic loci. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 9.7 years (3,427,084 person-years), 14,710 incident MDD events were ascertained. PM2.5 (HR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.07-1.26; per 5 μg/m3) and NOx (HR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05; per 20 μg/m3) were associated with increased risk of MDD. There was a significant interaction between the genetic susceptibility and air pollution for MDD (P-interaction < 0.05). Compared with participants with low genetic risk and low air pollution, those with high genetic risk and high PM2.5 exposure had the highest risk of incident MDD (PM2.5: HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.23-1.46). We also observed an interaction between PM2.5 exposure and unhealthy lifestyle (P-interaction < 0.05). Participants with the least healthy lifestyle and high air pollution exposures had the highest MDD risk when compared to those with the most healthy lifestyle and low air pollution (PM2.5: HR: 2.22, 95% CI: 1.92-2.58; PM10: HR: 2.09, 95% CI: 1.78-2.45; NO2: HR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.82-2.46; NOx: HR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.97-2.64). CONCLUSIONS Long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with MDD risk. Identifying individuals with high genetic risk and developing healthy lifestyle for reducing the harm of air pollution to public mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dankang Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China.,Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Junqing Xie
- Center for Statistics in Medicine, NDORMS, University of Oxford, The Botnar Research Centre, Oxford, UK
| | - Lulin Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China.,Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Yu Sun
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1277 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430022, China
| | - Yonghua Hu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, No.38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yaohua Tian
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China. .,Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China.
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Veronese N, Maniscalco L, Matranga D, Lacca G, Dominguez LJ, Barbagallo M. Association Between Pollution and Frailty in Older People: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the UK Biobank. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2023; 24:475-481.e3. [PMID: 36774967 DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2022.12.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Frailty is a relevant issue in older people, being associated with several negative outcomes. Increasing literature is reporting that pollution (particularly air pollution) can increase the risk of frailty, but the research is still limited. We aimed to investigate the potential association of pollution (air, noise) with frailty and prefrailty among participants 60 years and older of the UK Biobank study. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS Older participants (age ≥ 60 years) participating to the UK Biobank. METHODS Frailty and prefrailty presence were ascertained using a model including 5 indicators (weakness, slowness, weight loss, low physical activity, and exhaustion). Air pollution was measured through residential exposures to nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM2.5, PM2.5-10, PM10). The average residential sound level during the daytime, the evening, and night was used as an index for noise pollution. RESULTS A total of 220,079 subjects, aged 60 years and older, was included. The partial proportional odds model, adjusted for several confounders, showed that the increment in the exposure to NOx was associated with a higher probability of being in both the prefrail and frail category [odds ratio (OR) 1.003; 95% CI 1.001-1.004]. Similarly, the increase in the exposure to PM2.5-10 was associated with a higher probability of being prefrail and frail (OR 1.014; 95% CI 1.001-1.036), such as the increment in the exposure to PM2.5 that was associated with a higher probability of being frail (OR 1.018; 95% CI 1.001-1.037). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our study indicates that the exposure to air pollutants as PM2.5, PM2.5-10, or NOx might be associated with frailty and prefrailty, suggesting that air pollution can contribute to frailty and indicating that the frailty prevention and intervention strategies should take into account the dangerous impact of air pollutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Veronese
- Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, "G. D'Alessandro"-PROMISE-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Laura Maniscalco
- Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, "G. D'Alessandro"-PROMISE-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Domenica Matranga
- Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, "G. D'Alessandro"-PROMISE-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Guido Lacca
- Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, "G. D'Alessandro"-PROMISE-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Ligia J Dominguez
- Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, "G. D'Alessandro"-PROMISE-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; School of Medicine and Surgery, University Kore of Enna, Enna, Italy
| | - Mario Barbagallo
- Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, "G. D'Alessandro"-PROMISE-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
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Hamrouni M, Roberts MJ, Bishop NC. High grip strength attenuates risk of severe COVID-19 in males but not females with obesity: A short communication of prospective findings from UK Biobank. Obes Res Clin Pract 2023; 17:82-85. [PMID: 36639298 PMCID: PMC9829605 DOI: 10.1016/j.orcp.2023.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
We examined the joint associations of BMI category and grip strength tertile with risk of severe COVID-19 (inpatient COVID-19 or COVID-19 mortality) in 327 500 UK Biobank participants. Compared to normal-weight males with high grip strength, the odds ratio (95 % confidence interval) for males with obesity with low grip strength was 2.39 (1.59-3.60), but 1.52 (0.98-2.35) for males with obesity with a high grip strength. A higher grip strength did not appear to be associated with lower risk of severe COVID-19 in females. Muscle mass and strength development should be considered as a means to reduce risk of severe COVID-19 for males with obesity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malik Hamrouni
- National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Epinal Way, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK.
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28
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Zou H, Cai M, Qian ZM, Zhang Z, Vaughn MG, Wang X, Li H, Lin H. The effects of ambient fine particulate matter exposure and physical activity on heart failure: A risk-benefit analysis of a prospective cohort study. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 853:158366. [PMID: 36049682 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evidence supporting the adverse effects of air pollution and the benefits of physical activity (PA) on heart failure (HF) has continued to grow. However, their joint effects remain largely unknown. METHODS Our investigation included a total of 321,672 participants free of HF at baseline from the UK Biobank. Participants were followed up till March 2021. Information on participants' PA levels and additional covariates was collected by questionnaire. The annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration was estimated using a Land Use Regression (LUR) model. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations of PA and PM2.5 exposure with incident HF, as well as their interaction on both additive and multiplicative scales. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 12.0 years, 8212 cases of HF were uncovered. Compared with participants with low PA, the hazard ratios (HRs) were 0.69 (95 % CI: 0.65, 0.73) and 0.61 (95 % CI: 0.58, 0.65) for those with moderate and high PA, respectively. PM2.5 was associated with an elevated risk of incident HF with an HR of 1.11 (95 % CI: 1.08, 1.14) per interquartile range (IQR) increment. The synergistic additive interaction between low PA and high PM2.5 exposure on HF was observed. Compared with participants with high PA and low PM2.5 exposure, those with low PA and high PM2.5 exposure had the highest risk of HF [HR (95 % CI): 1.90 (1.76, 2.06)]. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that PA might still be an appropriate strategy to prevent HF for those living in areas with relatively high air pollution. Individuals with low PA may pay more attention to air pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongtao Zou
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Miao Cai
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Zhengmin Min Qian
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO 63104, USA
| | - Zilong Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Michael G Vaughn
- School of Social Work, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO 63103, USA
| | - Xiaojie Wang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Haitao Li
- Department of Social Medicine and Health Service Management, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Hualiang Lin
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
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