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. 2013 Jul;121(7):804-10.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.1205958. Epub 2013 Apr 26.

Risk of incident diabetes in relation to long-term exposure to fine particulate matter in Ontario, Canada

Hong Chen  1 , Richard T Burnett, Jeffrey C Kwong, Paul J Villeneuve, Mark S Goldberg, Robert D Brook, Aaron van Donkelaar, Michael Jerrett, Randall V Martin, Jeffrey R Brook, Ray Copes
Affiliations

Risk of incident diabetes in relation to long-term exposure to fine particulate matter in Ontario, Canada

Hong Chen et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2013 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Laboratory studies suggest that fine particulate matter (≤ 2.5 µm in diameter; PM(2.5)) can activate pathophysiological responses that may induce insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. However, epidemiological evidence relating PM2.5 and diabetes is sparse, particularly for incident diabetes.

Objectives: We conducted a population-based cohort study to determine whether long-term exposure to ambient PM(2.5) is associated with incident diabetes.

Methods: We assembled a cohort of 62,012 nondiabetic adults who lived in Ontario, Canada, and completed one of five population-based health surveys between 1996 and 2005. Follow-up extended until 31 December 2010. Incident diabetes diagnosed between 1996 and 2010 was ascertained using the Ontario Diabetes Database, a validated registry of persons diagnosed with diabetes (sensitivity = 86%, specificity = 97%). Six-year average concentrations of PM2.5 at the postal codes of baseline residences were derived from satellite observations. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the associations, adjusting for various individual-level risk factors and contextual covariates such as smoking, body mass index, physical activity, and neighborhood-level household income. We also conducted multiple sensitivity analyses. In addition, we examined effect modification for selected comorbidities and sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: There were 6,310 incident cases of diabetes over 484,644 total person-years of follow-up. The adjusted hazard ratio for a 10-µg/m(3) increase in PM(2.5) was 1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.21). Estimated associations were comparable among all sensitivity analyses. We did not find strong evidence of effect modification by comorbidities or sociodemographic covariates.

Conclusions: This study suggests that long-term exposure to PM2.5 may contribute to the development of diabetes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The opinions, results, and conclusions reported here do not necessarily represent the views of Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences or the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean satellite-derived estimates of PM2.5 across Ontario, Canada, 2001–2006.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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