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Long-term low-level ambient air pollution exposure and risk of lung cancer - A pooled analysis of 7 European cohorts.

Hvidtfeldt, UA; Severi, G; Andersen, ZJ; Atkinson, R; Bauwelinck, M; Bellander, T; Boutron-Ruault, M-C; Brandt, J; Brunekreef, B; Cesaroni, G; et al. Hvidtfeldt, UA; Severi, G; Andersen, ZJ; Atkinson, R; Bauwelinck, M; Bellander, T; Boutron-Ruault, M-C; Brandt, J; Brunekreef, B; Cesaroni, G; Chen, J; Concin, H; Forastiere, F; van Gils, CH; Gulliver, J; Hertel, O; Hoek, G; Hoffmann, B; de Hoogh, K; Janssen, N; Jöckel, K-H; Jørgensen, JT; Katsouyanni, K; Ketzel, M; Klompmaker, JO; Krog, NH; Lang, A; Leander, K; Liu, S; Ljungman, PLS; Magnusson, PKE; Mehta, AJ; Nagel, G; Oftedal, B; Pershagen, G; Peter, RS; Peters, A; Renzi, M; Rizzuto, D; Rodopoulou, S; Samoli, E; Schwarze, PE; Sigsgaard, T; Simonsen, MK; Stafoggia, M; Strak, M; Vienneau, D; Weinmayr, G; Wolf, K; Raaschou-Nielsen, O; Fecht, D (2021) Long-term low-level ambient air pollution exposure and risk of lung cancer - A pooled analysis of 7 European cohorts. Environ Int, 146. p. 106249. ISSN 1873-6750 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106249
SGUL Authors: Atkinson, Richard William

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Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIM: Ambient air pollution has been associated with lung cancer, but the shape of the exposure-response function - especially at low exposure levels - is not well described. The aim of this study was to address the relationship between long-term low-level air pollution exposure and lung cancer incidence. METHODS: The "Effects of Low-level Air Pollution: a Study in Europe" (ELAPSE) collaboration pools seven cohorts from across Europe. We developed hybrid models combining air pollution monitoring, land use data, satellite observations, and dispersion model estimates for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and ozone (O3) to assign exposure to cohort participants' residential addresses in 100 m by 100 m grids. We applied stratified Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for potential confounders (age, sex, calendar year, marital status, smoking, body mass index, employment status, and neighborhood-level socio-economic status). We fitted linear models, linear models in subsets, Shape-Constrained Health Impact Functions (SCHIF), and natural cubic spline models to assess the shape of the association between air pollution and lung cancer at concentrations below existing standards and guidelines. RESULTS: The analyses included 307,550 cohort participants. During a mean follow-up of 18.1 years, 3956 incident lung cancer cases occurred. Median (Q1, Q3) annual (2010) exposure levels of NO2, PM2.5, BC and O3 (warm season) were 24.2 µg/m3 (19.5, 29.7), 15.4 µg/m3 (12.8, 17.3), 1.6 10-5m-1 (1.3, 1.8), and 86.6 µg/m3 (78.5, 92.9), respectively. We observed a higher risk for lung cancer with higher exposure to PM2.5 (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.23 per 5 µg/m3). This association was robust to adjustment for other pollutants. The SCHIF, spline and subset analyses suggested a linear or supra-linear association with no evidence of a threshold. In subset analyses, risk estimates were clearly elevated for the subset of subjects with exposure below the EU limit value of 25 µg/m3. We did not observe associations between NO2, BC or O3 and lung cancer incidence. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term ambient PM2.5 exposure is associated with lung cancer incidence even at concentrations below current EU limit values and possibly WHO Air Quality Guidelines.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: Air pollution, Dose response relationship, Lung cancer incidence, Particulate matter, Environmental Sciences, MD Multidisciplinary
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Population Health Research Institute (INPH)
Journal or Publication Title: Environ Int
ISSN: 1873-6750
Language: eng
Dates:
DateEvent
January 2021Published
13 November 2020Published Online
26 October 2020Accepted
Publisher License: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
Projects:
Project IDFunderFunder ID
R-82811201Environmental Protection Agencyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001589
2017-00641Swedish Research Council Formashttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001862
PubMed ID: 33197787
Go to PubMed abstract
URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/112665
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106249

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