Exposure to ultrafine particles and cognitive decline among older people in the United States

Abstract

Background: Some studies suggest that ambient particulate air pollution is associated with cognitive decline. However, the findings are mixed, and there is no relevant research examining the influences of ultrafine particles (UFP), which may have more toxicity than larger particles. We therefore conducted this study to investigate whether residential UFP exposure is associated with cognitive decline using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers in the United States.

Methods: This is a longitudinal study of participants who were aged 65 years and older and had normal cognitive status at baseline. Residential UFP exposure, expressed as particle number concentrations (PNC), was assessed in 2016-2017 using a nationwide land use regression model, and was assigned to each participant using their 3-digit residential ZIP codes. Cognitive functions including memory, attention, language, executive function, and global function were assessed annually using 15 neuropsychological tests from March 2015 to February 2022. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the associations after adjustment for covariates including baseline age, sex, APOE ε4 status, race, education, smoking status, history of diabetes, quartiles of neighborhood median household income, and interaction terms of follow-up time with each covariate.

Results: This study included 5646 participants (mean age 76 years, 65% female). On average, each participant had 4 annual visits. When PNC was treated as a continuous variable, there were no statistically or clinically significant changes in annual decline of each cognitive function in relation to an interquartile range elevation in PNC (4026 particles/cm³). Similarly, when PNC was treated as a categorical variable including five exposure groups, there were no linear exposure-response trends in annual decline of each cognitive function across the five exposure groups.

Conclusions: This study found no meaningful associations between residential UFP exposure and cognitive decline in global and domain-specific functions. There is a need for further research that assigns UFP exposure at a finer geographic scale.

Keywords: Aged; Air pollution; Cognitive dysfunction; Dementia; Longitudinal studies; Ultrafine particulate matter.

Figure 1.

Data flow diagram for the selection of participants from the NACC sample during the study period from March 2015 to February 2022.

Figure 2.

Geographic distribution of study participants by 3-digit residential ZIP codes. Each small polygon area represents a 3-digit ZIP code area.