Emerging evidence links road proximity and air pollution with cognitive impairment. Joint effects of noise and greenness have not been evaluated. We investigated associations between road proximity ...and exposures to air pollution, and joint effects of noise and greenness, on non-Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis within a population-based cohort.
We assembled administrative health database cohorts of 45-84 year old residents (N ~ 678,000) of Metro Vancouver, Canada. Cox proportional hazards models were built to assess associations between exposures and non-Alzheimer's dementia and Parkinson's disease. Given reduced case numbers, associations with Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis were evaluated in nested case-control analyses by conditional logistic regression.
Road proximity was associated with all outcomes (e.g. non-Alzheimer's dementia hazard ratio: 1.14, 95% confidence interval: 1.07-1.20, for living < 50 m from a major road or < 150 m from a highway). Air pollutants were associated with incidence of Parkinson's disease and non-Alzheimer's dementia (e.g. Parkinson's disease hazard ratios of 1.09 1.02-1.16, 1.03 0.97-1.08, 1.12 1.05-1.20 per interquartile increase in fine particulate matter, Black Carbon, and nitrogen dioxide) but not Alzheimer's disease or multiple sclerosis. Noise was not associated with any outcomes while associations with greenness suggested protective effects for Parkinson's disease and non-Alzheimer's dementia.
Road proximity was associated with incidence of non-Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. This association may be partially mediated by air pollution, whereas noise exposure did not affect associations. There was some evidence of protective effects of greenness.
Half the world's population lives in urban areas. It is therefore important to identify characteristics of the built environment that are beneficial to human health. Urban greenness has been ...associated with improvements in a diverse range of health conditions, including birth outcomes; however, few studies have attempted to distinguish potential effects of greenness from those of other spatially correlated exposures related to the built environment.
We aimed to investigate associations between residential greenness and birth outcomes and evaluate the influence of spatially correlated built environment factors on these associations.
We examined associations between residential greenness measured using satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 100 m of study participants' homes and birth outcomes in a cohort of 64,705 singleton births (from 1999-2002) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We also evaluated associations after adjusting for spatially correlated built environmental factors that may influence birth outcomes, including exposure to air pollution and noise, neighborhood walkability, and distance to the nearest park.
An interquartile increase in greenness (0.1 in residential NDVI) was associated with higher term birth weight (20.6 g; 95% CI: 16.5, 24.7) and decreases in the likelihood of small for gestational age, very preterm (< 30 weeks), and moderately preterm (30-36 weeks) birth. Associations were robust to adjustment for air pollution and noise exposures, neighborhood walkability, and park proximity.
Increased residential greenness was associated with beneficial birth outcomes in this population-based cohort. These associations did not change after adjusting for other spatially correlated built environment factors, suggesting that alternative pathways (e.g., psychosocial and psychological mechanisms) may underlie associations between residential greenness and birth outcomes.
Background: Evidence suggests that air pollution exposure adversely affects pregnancy outcomes. Few studies have examined individual-level intraurban exposure contrasts. Objectives: We evaluated the ...impacts of air pollution on small for gestational age (SGA) birth weight, low full-term birth weight (LBW), and preterm birth using spatiotemporal exposure metrics. Methods: With linked administrative data, we identified 70,249 singleton births (1999-2002) with complete covariate data (sex, ethnicity, parity, birth month and year, income, education) and maternal residential history in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We estimated residential exposures by month of pregnancy using nearest and inverse-distance weighting (IDW) of study area monitors carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter < 2.5 $({\rm PM}_{2.5})$ or < 10 $({\rm PM}_{10})$ μm in aerodynamic diameter, temporally adjusted land use regression (LUR) models (NO, ${\rm NO}_{2}$, ${\rm PM}_{2.5}$, black carbon), and proximity to major roads. Using logistic regression, we estimated the risk of mean (entire pregnancy, first and last month of pregnancy, first and last 3 months) air pollution concentrations on SGA (< 10th percentile), term LBW (< 2,500 g), and preterm birth. Results: Residence within 50 m of highways was associated with a 26% increase in SGA 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.07-1.49 and an 11% (95% CI, 1.01-1.23) increase in LBW. Exposure to all air pollutants except ${\rm O}_{3}$ was associated with SGA, with similar odds ratios (ORs) for LUR and monitoring estimates (e.g., LUR: OR = 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00-1.04; IDW: OR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.03-1.08 per $10\text{-}\mu {\rm g}/{\rm m}^{3}$ increase in NO). For preterm births, associations were observed with ${\rm PM}_{2.5}$ for births < 37 weeks gestation (and for other pollutants at < 30 weeks). No consistent patterns suggested exposure windows of greater relevance. Conclusion: Associations between traffic-related air pollution and birth outcomes were observed in a population-based cohort with relatively low ambient air pollution exposure.
Background: Motorized traffic is an important source of both air pollution and community noise. While there is growing evidence for an adverse effect of ambient air pollution on reproductive health, ...little is known about the association between traffic noise and pregnancy outcomes. Methods: We evaluated the impact of residential noise exposure on small size for gestational age, preterm birth, term birth weight, and low birth weight at term in a population-based cohort study, for which we previously reported associations between air pollution and pregnancy outcomes. We also evaluated potential confounding of air pollution effects by noise and vice versa. Linked administrative health data sets were used to identify 68,238 singleton births (1999–2002) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with complete covariate data (sex, ethnicity, parity, birth month and year, income, and education) and maternal residential history. We estimated exposure to noise with a deterministic model (CadnaA) and exposure to air pollution using temporally adjusted land-use regression models and inverse distance weighting of stationary monitors for the entire pregnancy. Results: Noise exposure was negatively associated with term birth weight (mean difference = −19 95% confidence interval = −23 to −15 g per 6 dB(A)). Injoint air pollution-noise models, associations between noise and term birth weight remained largely unchanged, whereas associations decreased for all air pollutants. Conclusion: Traffic may affect birth weight through exposure to both air pollution and noise.
Background: There is increasing recognition of the importance of early environmental exposures in the development of childhood asthma. Outdoor air pollution is a recognized asthma trigger, but it is ...unclear whether exposure influences incident disease. We investigated the effect of exposure to ambient air pollution in utero and during the first year of life on risk of subsequent asthma diagnosis in a population-based nested case—control study. Methods: We assessed all children born in southwestern British Columbia in 1999 and 2000 (n = 37,401) for incidence of asthma diagnosis up to 3-4 years of age using outpatient and hospitalization records. Asthma cases were age- and sex-matched to five randomly chosen controls from the eligible cohort. We estimated each individual's exposure to ambient air pollution for the gestational period and first year of life using high-resolution pollution surfaces derived from regulatory monitoring data as well as land use regression models adjusted for temporal variation. We used logistic regression analyses to estimate effects of carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter ≤ 10 μm and ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM₁₀ and ${\rm PM}_{2.5}$), ozone, sulfur dioxide, black carbon, woodsmoke, and proximity to roads and point sources on asthma diagnosis. Results: A total of 3,482 children (9%) were classified as asthma cases. We observed a statistically significantly increased risk of asthma diagnosis with increased early life exposure to CO, NO, NO₂, PM₁₀, SO₂, and black carbon and proximity to point sources. Traffic-related pollutants were associated with the highest risks: adjusted odds ratio = 1.08 (95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.12) for a 10-μg/m³ increase of NO, 1.12 (1.07-1.17) for a 10-μg/m³ increase in NO₂, and 1.10 (1.06-1.13) for a 100-μg/m³ increase in CO. These data support the hypothesis that early childhood exposure to air pollutants plays a role in development of asthma.
A growing body of evidence has associated maternal exposure to air pollution with adverse effects on fetal growth; however, the existing literature is inconsistent.
We aimed to quantify the ...association between maternal exposure to particulate air pollution and term birth weight and low birth weight (LBW) across 14 centers from 9 countries, and to explore the influence of site characteristics and exposure assessment methods on between-center heterogeneity in this association.
Using a common analytical protocol, International Collaboration on Air Pollution and Pregnancy Outcomes (ICAPPO) centers generated effect estimates for term LBW and continuous birth weight associated with PM(10) and PM(2.5) (particulate matter ≤ 10 and 2.5 µm). We used meta-analysis to combine the estimates of effect across centers (~ 3 million births) and used meta-regression to evaluate the influence of center characteristics and exposure assessment methods on between-center heterogeneity in reported effect estimates.
In random-effects meta-analyses, term LBW was positively associated with a 10-μg/m3 increase in PM10 odds ratio (OR) = 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.05 and PM(2.5) (OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.18) exposure during the entire pregnancy, adjusted for maternal socioeconomic status. A 10-μg/m3 increase in PM(10) exposure was also negatively associated with term birth weight as a continuous outcome in the fully adjusted random-effects meta-analyses (-8.9 g; 95% CI: -13.2, -4.6 g). Meta-regressions revealed that centers with higher median PM(2.5) levels and PM(2.5):PM(10) ratios, and centers that used a temporal exposure assessment (compared with spatiotemporal), tended to report stronger associations.
Maternal exposure to particulate pollution was associated with LBW at term across study populations. We detected three site characteristics and aspects of exposure assessment methodology that appeared to contribute to the variation in associations reported by centers.
The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of heat-related illness among workers in British Columbia (BC), Canada, 2001-2020.
Cases of heat-related illness occurring among workers aged 15 ...years and older were identified from accepted lost-time claims from WorkSafeBC, the provincial workers' compensation board. Incidence rates were calculated using monthly estimates of the working population from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey as the denominator.
Between 2000 and 2020, there were 528 heat-related illness claims, corresponding to a rate of 1.21 (95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.31) claims per 100,000 workers. Eighty-four percent of claims occurred between June and August. Rates were higher among male workers, younger workers, and among those working in occupations related to primary industry; trades, transport, and equipment operators; and processing, manufacturing, and utilities.
In BC, lost-time claims for heat-related illness occurred disproportionately among certain subgroups of the workforce.
The heterogeneity of asthma phenotypes may explain inconsistencies in observed associations with environmental exposures.
To identify trajectories of childhood asthma and to characterize the ...potential impact of residential greenness and air pollution on asthma trajectory subgroups.
Linked administrative databases of medical visits were used to define the occurrence and recurrence of asthma over a 10-year follow-up period within a population-based birth cohort of more than 65,000 children. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify unique asthma trajectories. Weighted multinomial regression was used to assess the relationship between asthma trajectories and risk factors, including environmental exposures.
Group-based trajectory modeling distinguished four trajectories: one with no asthma representing 88.8% of the cohort, one with transient asthma (5.6% of the cohort), and two trajectories with chronic asthma with early (<1 yr; 1.5%) and late (<3 yr; 4.1%) onset during early childhood. These trajectories differed with respect to socioeconomic markers and modifiable risk factors, including maternal smoking and breastfeeding initiation. After accounting for sex, parity, breastfeeding, term birth weight, household income, maternal education, delivery mode, and smoking, an interquartile increase in nitrogen dioxide exposure increased the risk of membership in the early and late-onset chronic asthma trajectories, relative to subjects without asthma, by 50% and 20%, respectively (weighted risk ratio, 1.5 and 1.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-1.9 and 1.0-1.4). Greenness was not associated with any of the asthma trajectories.
Traffic-related air pollution increased the probability of a chronic asthma trajectory.
Within-city variation in air pollution has been associated with childhood asthma development, but findings have been inconsistent. We examined whether perinatal air pollution exposure affected asthma ...onset during "pre-school and "school age" periods in a population-based birth cohort.65,254 children born between 1999 and 2002 in the greater Vancouver metropolitan region were followed until age 10 years using linked administrative health databases. Asthma cases were sex- and age-matched to five randomly chosen controls. Associations between exposure to air pollutants estimated with different methods (interpolation (inverse-distance weighted (IDW)), land use regression, proximity) and incident asthma during the pre-school (0-5 years) and school age (6-10 years) periods were estimated with conditional logistic regression.6948 and 1711 cases were identified during the pre-school and school age periods, respectively. Following adjustment for birthweight, gestational period, household income, parity, breastfeeding at discharge, maternal age and education, asthma risk during the pre-school years was increased by traffic pollution (adjusted odds ratio using IDW method per interquartile increase (95% CI): nitric oxide 1.06 (1.01-1.11), nitrogen dioxide 1.09 (1.04-1.13) and carbon monoxide 1.05 (1.01-1.1)). Enhanced impacts were observed amongst low-term-birthweight cases. Associations were independent of surrounding residential greenness.Within-city air pollution variation was associated with new asthma onset during the pre-school years.
PDF
