Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan:192:110330.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110330. Epub 2020 Oct 14.

Long-term air pollution exposure and self-reported morbidity: A longitudinal analysis from the Thai cohort study (TCS)

Kanawat Paoin  1 , Kayo Ueda  2 , Thammasin Ingviya  3 , Suhaimee Buya  4 , Arthit Phosri  5 , Xerxes Tesoro Seposo  6 , Sam-Ang Seubsman  7 , Matthew Kelly  8 , Adrian Sleigh  8 , Akiko Honda  9 , Hirohisa Takano  9 ; Thai Cohort Study Team Thailand; Thai Cohort Study Team Australia
Collaborators, Affiliations

Long-term air pollution exposure and self-reported morbidity: A longitudinal analysis from the Thai cohort study (TCS)

Kanawat Paoin et al. Environ Res. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Several studies have shown the health effects of air pollutants, especially in China, North American and Western European countries. But longitudinal cohort studies focused on health effects of long-term air pollution exposure are still limited in Southeast Asian countries where sources of air pollution, weather conditions, and demographic characteristics are different. The present study examined the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and self-reported morbidities in participants of the Thai cohort study (TCS) in Bangkok metropolitan region (BMR), Thailand.

Methods: This longitudinal cohort study was conducted for 9 years from 2005 to 2013. Self-reported morbidities in this study included high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes. Air pollution data were obtained from the Thai government Pollution Control Department (PCD). Particles with diameters ≤10 μm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO) exposures were estimated with ordinary kriging method using 22 background and 7 traffic monitoring stations in BMR during 2005-2013. Long-term exposure periods to air pollution for each subject was averaged as the same period of person-time. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between long-term air pollution exposure with self-reported high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes. Results of self-reported morbidity were presented as hazard ratios (HRs) per interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM10, O3, NO2, SO2, and CO.

Results: After controlling for potential confounders, we found that an IQR increase in PM10 was significantly associated with self-reported high blood pressure (HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.23) and high blood cholesterol (HR = 1.07, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.12), but not with diabetes (HR = 1.05, 95%CI: 0.91, 1.21). SO2 was also positively associated with self-reported high blood pressure (HR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.08, 1.38), high blood cholesterol (HR = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.11, 1.30), and diabetes (HR = 1.21, 95%CI: 0.92, 1.60). Moreover, we observed a positive association between CO and self-reported high blood pressure (HR = 1.07, 95%CI: 1.00, 1.15), but not for other diseases. However, self-reported morbidities were not associated with O3 and NO2.

Conclusions: Long-term exposure to air pollution, especially for PM10 and SO2 was associated with self-reported high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes in subjects of TCS. Our study supports that exposure to air pollution increases cardiovascular disease risk factors for younger population.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease risk factors; Diabetes; High blood cholesterol; High blood pressure; Long-term air pollution exposure.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of participant selection.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Map of the study area (BMR). Ambient monitoring stations are denoted by yellow circles; traffic monitoring stations are denoted by blue circles; meteorological monitoring stations are denoted by triangles.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The grid of nearest centroid point of each district in the study area (BMR).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adar S.D., Chen Y.H., D’souza J.C., O’neill M.S., Szpiro A.A., Auchincloss A.H., Kaufman J.D. Longitudinal analysis of long-term air pollution levels and blood pressure: a cautionary tale from the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Environ. Health Perspect. 2018;126(10):1–11. doi: 10.1289/EHP2966. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Analitis A., Katsouyanni K., Dimakopoulou K., Samoli E., Nikoloulopoulos A.K., Petasakis Y., Pekkanen J. Short-term effects of ambient particles on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality. Epidemiology. 2006;17(2):230–233. doi: 10.1097/01.ede.0000199439.57655.6b. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersen Z.J., Raaschou-Nielsen O., Ketzel M., Jensen S.S., Hvidberg M., Loft S., Sørensen M. Diabetes incidence and long-term exposure to air pollution. Diabetes Care. 2012;35:92–98. doi: 10.2337/dc11-1155. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Araujo J.A., Nel A.E. Particulate matter and atherosclerosis: role of particle size, composition and oxidative stress. Part. Fibre Toxicol. 2009;6(24):1–19. doi: 10.1186/1743-8977-6-24. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bai L., Chen H., Hatzopoulou M., Jerrett M., Kwong J.C., Burnett R.T., Weichenthal S. Exposure to ambient ultrafine particles and nitrogen dioxide and incident hypertension and diabetes. Epidemiology. 2018;29(3):323–332. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000798. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types