Search Results

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease that affects approximately 1% of the adult population, and to date, genetic factors explain < 50% of the risk. Particulate air pollution, especially of traffic origin, has been linked to systemic inflammation in many studies.

Objectives: We examined the association of distance to road, a marker of traffic pollution exposure, and incidence of RA in a prospective cohort study.

Methods: We studied 90,297 U.S. women in the Nurses’ Health Study. We used a geographic information system to determine distance to road at the residence in 2000 as a measure of traffic exposure. Using Cox proportional hazard models, we examined the association of distance to road and incident RA (1976–2004) with adjustment for a large number of potential confounders.

Results: In models adjusted for age, calendar year, race, cigarette smoking, parity, lactation, menopausal status and hormone use, oral contraceptive use, body mass index, physical activity, and census-tract-level median income and house value, we observed an elevated risk of RA [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98–1.74] in women living within 50 m of a road, compared with those women living 200 m or farther away. We also observed this association in analyses among nonsmokers (HR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.04–2.52), nonsmokers with rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative RA (HR = 1.77; 95% CI, 0.93–3.38), and nonsmokers with RF-positive RA (HR = 1.51; 95% CI, 0.82–2.77). We saw no elevations in risk in women living 50–200 m from the road.

Conclusions: The observed association between exposure to traffic pollution and RA suggests that pollution from traffic in adulthood may be a newly identified environmental risk factor for RA.

Background: The built environment may influence health in part through the promotion of physical activity and exposure to pollution. To date, no studies have explored interactions between neighborhood walkability and air pollution exposure.

Methods: We estimated concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), a marker for direct vehicle emissions), and ozone (O₃) and a neighborhood walkability score, for 49,702 (89% of total) postal codes in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NO concentrations were estimated from a land-use regression model, O₃ was estimated from ambient monitoring data; walkability was calculated based on geographic attributes such as land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density.

Results: All three attributes exhibit an urban–rural gradient, with high walkability and NO concentrations, and low O₃ concentrations, near the city center. Lower-income areas tend to have higher NO concentrations and walkability and lower O₃ concentrations. Higher-income areas tend to have lower pollution (NO and O₃). “Sweet-spot” neighborhoods (low pollution, high walkability) are generally located near but not at the city center and are almost exclusively higher income.

Policy implications: Increased concentration of activities in urban settings yields both health costs and benefits. Our research identifies neighborhoods that do especially well (and especially poorly) for walkability and air pollution exposure. Work is needed to ensure that the poor do not bear an undue burden of urban air pollution and that neighborhoods designed for walking, bicycling, or mass transit do not adversely affect resident’s exposure to air pollution. Analyses presented here could be replicated in other cities and tracked over time to better understand interactions among neighborhood walkability, air pollution exposure, and income level.

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 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/m increase of NO, 1.12 (1.07–1.17) for a 10-μg/m increase in NO₂, and 1.10 (1.06–1.13) for a 100-μg/m increase in CO. These data support the hypothesis that early childhood exposure to air pollutants plays a role in development of asthma.

Introduction: Ambient particulate pollution and traffic have been linked to myocardial infarction and cardiac death risk. Possible mechanisms include autonomic cardiac dysfunction.

Methods: In a repeated-measures study of 46 patients 43–75 years of age, we investigated associations of central-site ambient particulate pollution, including black carbon (BC) (a marker for regional and local traffic), and report of traffic exposure with changes in half-hourly averaged heart rate variability (HRV), a marker of autonomic function measured by 24-hr Holter electrocardiogram monitoring. Each patient was observed up to four times within 1 year after a percutaneous intervention for myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome without infarction, or stable coronary artery disease (4,955 half-hour observations). For each half-hour period, diary data defined whether the patient was home or not home, or in traffic.

Results: A decrease in high frequency (HF; an HRV marker of vagal tone) of −16.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), −20.7 to −11.8%] was associated with an interquartile range of 0.3-μg/m increase in prior 5-day averaged ambient BC. Decreases in HF were independently associated both with the previous 2-hr averaged BC (−10.4%; 95% CI, −15.4 to −5.2%) and with being in traffic in the previous 2 hr (−38.5%; 95% CI, −57.4 to −11.1%). We also observed independent responses for particulate air matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm and for gases (ozone or nitrogen dioxide).

Conclusion: After hospitalization for coronary artery disease, both particulate pollution and being in traffic, a marker of stress and pollution, were associated with decreased HRV.

Background: Acute exposure to ambient air pollution has been associated with acute changes in cardiac outcomes, often within hours of exposure.

Objectives: We examined the effects of air pollutants on heart-rate–corrected QT interval (QTc), an electrocardiographic marker of ventricular repolarization, and whether these associations were modified by participant characteristics and genetic polymorphisms related to oxidative stress.

Methods: We studied repeated measurements of QTc on 580 men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study (NAS) using mixed-effects models with random intercepts. We fitted a quadratic constrained distributed lag model to estimate the cumulative effect on QTc of ambient air pollutants including fine particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM_2.5), ozone (O₃), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations during the 10 hr before the visit. We genotyped polymorphisms related to oxidative stress and analyzed pollution–susceptibility score interactions using the genetic susceptibility score (GSS) method.

Results: Ambient traffic pollutant concentrations were related to longer QTc. An interquartile range (IQR) change in BC cumulative during the 10 hr before the visit was associated with increased QTc [1.89 msec change; 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.16 to 3.93]. We found a similar association with QTc for an IQR change in 1-hr BC that occurred 4 hr before the visit (2.54 msec change; 95% CI, 0.28–4.80). We found increased QTc for IQR changes in NO₂ and CO, but the change was statistically insignificant. In contrast, we found no association between QTc and PM_2.5, SO₂, and O₃. The association between QTc and BC was stronger among participants who were obese, who had diabetes, who were nonsmokers, or who had higher GSSs.

Conclusions: Traffic-related pollutants may increase QTc among persons with diabetes, persons who are obese, and nonsmoking elderly individuals; the number of genetic variants related to oxidative stress increases this effect.

Background: Cross-sectional and ecological studies indicate that air pollution may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but prospective data are lacking.

Objective: We examined the association between traffic-related air pollution and incident type 2 diabetes.

Design: Between 1985 and 1994, cross-sectional surveys were performed in the highly industrialized Ruhr district (West Germany); a follow-up investigation was conducted in 2006 using data from the Study on the Influence of Air Pollution on Lung, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA) cohort.

Participants: 1,775 nondiabetic women who were 54–55 years old at baseline participated in both baseline and follow-up investigations and had complete information available.

Materials and Methods: Using questionnaires, we assessed 16-year incidence (1990–2006) of type 2 diabetes and information about covariates. Complement factor C3c as marker for subclinical inflammation was measured at baseline. Individual exposure to traffic-related particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide was determined at different spatial scales.

Results: Between 1990 and 2006, 87 (10.5%) new cases of diabetes were reported among the SALIA cohort members. The hazards for diabetes were increased by 15–42% per interquartile range of PM or traffic-related exposure. The associations persisted when different spatial scales were used to assess exposure and remained robust after adjusting for age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, and exposure to several non–traffic-related sources of air pollution. C3c was associated with PM pollution at baseline and was a strong independent predictor of incident diabetes. Exploratory analyses indicated that women with high C3c blood levels were more susceptible for PM-related excess risk of diabetes than were women with low C3c levels.

Conclusions: Traffic-related air pollution is associated with incident type 2 diabetes among elderly women. Subclinical inflammation may be a mechanism linking air pollution with type 2 diabetes.

Relevance to clinical practice: Our study identifies traffic-related air pollution as a novel and potentially modifiable risk factor of type 2 diabetes.

Background: In epidemiological studies, small-scale spatial variation in air quality is estimated using land-use regression (LUR) and dispersion models. An important issue of exposure modeling is the predictive performance of the model at unmeasured locations.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of two LUR models (large area and city specific) and a dispersion model in estimating small-scale variations in nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations.

Methods: Two LUR models were developed based on independent NO₂ monitoring campaigns performed in Amsterdam and in a larger area including Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The measurement data of the other campaign were used to evaluate each model. Predictions from both LUR models and the calculation of air pollution from road traffic (CAR) dispersion model were compared against NO₂ measurements obtained from Amsterdam.

Results and conclusion: The large-area and the city-specific LUR models provided good predictions of NO₂ concentrations [percentage of explained variation (R) = 87% and 72%, respectively]. The models explained less variability of the concentrations in the other sampling campaign, probably related to differences in site selection, and illustrated the need to select sampling sites representative of the locations to which the model will be applied. More complete traffic information contributed more to a better model fit than did detailed land-use data. Dispersion-model estimates for NO₂ concentrations were within the range of both LUR estimates.

Background: Telomere length reflects biological age and is inversely associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Ambient air pollution is associated with CVD, but its effect on telomere length is unknown.

Objective: We investigated whether ambient black carbon (BC), a marker for traffic-related particles, is associated with telomere length in the Normative Aging Study (NAS).

Methods: Among 165 never-smoking men from the NAS, leukocyte telomere length (LTL) was measured repeatedly approximately every 3 years from 1999 through 2006 using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). BC concentration at their residences during the year before each LTL measurement was estimated based on a spatiotemporal model calibrated with BC measurements from 82 locations within the study area.

Results: The median [interquartile range (IQR)] annual moving-average BC concentration was 0.32 (0.20–0.45) μg/m. LTL, expressed as population-standardized ratio of telomere repeat to single-copy gene copy numbers, had a geometric mean (geometric SD) of 1.25 (1.42). We used linear mixed-effects models including random subject intercepts and adjusted for several potential confounders. We used inverse probability of response weighting to adjust for potential selection bias due to loss to follow-up. An IQR increase in annual BC (0.25 μg/m) was associated with a 7.6% decrease (95% confidence interval, −12.8 to −2.1) in LTL. We found evidence of effect modification, with a stronger association among subjects ≥ 75 years of age compared with younger participants (p = 0.050) and statin medications appearing protective of the effects of BC on LTL (p = 0.050).

Conclusions: Telomere attrition, linked to biological aging, may be associated with long-term exposures to airborne particles, particularly those rich in BC, which are primarily related to automobile traffic.

Background: Previous studies have shown associations between air pollution and risk for lung cancer.

Objective: We investigated whether traffic and the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) at the residence are associated with risk for lung cancer.

Methods: We identified 592 lung cancer cases in the Danish Cancer Registry among 52,970 members of the Diet, Cancer and Health cohort and traced residential addresses from 1 January 1971 in the Central Population Registry. We calculated the NO_x concentration at each address by dispersion models and calculated the time-weighted average concentration for all addresses for each person. We used Cox models to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) after adjustment for smoking (status, duration, and intensity), environmental tobacco smoke, length of school attendance, occupation, and dietary intake of fruit.

Results: For the highest compared with the lowest quartile of NO_x concentration at the residence, we found an IRR for lung cancer of 1.30 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05–1.61], and the IRR for lung cancer in association with living within 50 m of a major road (> 10,000 vehicles/day) was 1.21 (95% CI, 0.95–1.55). The results showed tendencies of stronger associations among nonsmokers, among those with a relatively low fruit intake, and among those with a longer school attendance; only length of school attendance modified the effect significantly.

Conclusions: This study supports that risk for lung cancer is associated with different markers of air pollution from traffic near the residence.

Background: Past time-series studies of the health effects of fine particulate matter [aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM_2.5)] have used chemically nonspecific PM_2.5 mass. However, PM_2.5 is known to vary in chemical composition with source, and health impacts may vary accordingly.

Objective: We tested the association between source-specific daily PM_2.5 mass and hospital admissions in a time-series investigation that considered both single-lag and distributed-lag models.

Methods: Daily PM_2.5 speciation measurements collected in midtown Manhattan were analyzed via positive matrix factorization source apportionment. Daily and distributed-lag generalized linear models of Medicare respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions during 2001–2002 considered PM_2.5 mass and PM_2.5 from five sources: transported sulfate, residual oil, traffic, steel metal works, and soil.

Results: Source-related PM_2.5 (specifically steel and traffic) was significantly associated with hospital admissions but not with total PM_2.5 mass. Steel metal works–related PM_2.5 was associated with respiratory admissions for multiple-lag days, especially during the cleanup efforts at the World Trade Center. Traffic-related PM_2.5 was consistently associated with same-day cardiovascular admissions across disease-specific subcategories. PM_2.5 constituents associated with each source (e.g., elemental carbon with traffic) were likewise associated with admissions in a consistent manner. Mean effects of distributed-lag models were significantly greater than were maximum single-day effect models for both steel- and traffic-related PM_2.5.

Conclusions: Past analyses that have considered only PM_2.5 mass or only maximum single-day lag effects have likely underestimated PM_2.5 health effects by not considering source-specific and distributed-lag effects. Differing lag structures and disease specificity observed for steel-related versus traffic-related PM_2.5 raise the possibility of distinct mechanistic pathways of health effects for particles of differing chemical composition.

Background: Recent time-series studies have indicated that both cardiovascular disease (CVD)mortality and hospitalizations are associated with particulate matter (PM). However, seasonal patterns of PM associations with these outcomes are not consistent, and PM components responsible for these associations have not been determined. We investigated this issue in New York City (NYC), where PM originates from regional and local combustion sources.

Objective: In this study, we examined the role of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) and its key chemical components on both CVD hospitalizations and on mortality in NYC.

Methods: We analyzed daily deaths and emergency hospitalizations for CVDs among persons ≥ 40 years of age for associations with PM_2.5, its chemical components, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide for the years 2000–2006 using a Poisson time-series model adjusting for temporal and seasonal trends, temperature effects, and day of the week. We estimated excess risks per interquartile-range increases at lags 0 through 3 days for warm (April through September) and cold (October through March) seasons.

Results: The CVD mortality series exhibit strong seasonal trends, whereas the CVD hospitalization series show a strong day-of-week pattern. These outcome series were not correlated with each other but were individually associated with a number of PM_2.5 chemical components from regional and local sources, each with different seasonal patterns and lags. Coal-combustion–related components (e.g., selenium) were associated with CVD mortality in summer and CVD hospitalizations in winter, whereas elemental carbon and NO₂ showed associations with these outcomes in both seasons.

Conclusion: Local combustion sources, including traffic and residual oil burning, may play a year-round role in the associations between air pollution and CVD outcomes, but transported aerosols may explain the seasonal variation in associations shown by PM_2.5 mass.

Background: Living near traffic has been associated with asthma and other respiratory symptoms. Most studies, however, have been conducted in areas with high background levels of ambient air pollution, making it challenging to isolate an independent effect of traffic. Additionally, most investigations have used surrogates of exposure, and few have measured traffic pollutants directly as part of the study.

Objective: We conducted a cross-sectional study of current asthma and other respiratory symptoms in children (n = 1,080) living at varying distances from high-traffic roads in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, a highly urbanized region characterized by good regional air quality due to coastal breezes.

Methods: We obtained health information and home environmental factors by parental questionnaire. We assessed exposure with several measures of residential proximity to traffic calculated using geographic information systems, including traffic within a given radius and distance to major roads. We also measured traffic-related pollutants (nitrogen oxides and nitrogen dioxide) for a subset of households to determine how well traffic metrics correlated with measured traffic pollutants.

Results: Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, we found associations between current asthma and residential proximity to traffic. For several traffic metrics, children whose residences were in the highest quintile of exposure had approximately twice the adjusted odds of current asthma (i.e., asthma episode in the preceeding 12 months) compared with children whose residences were within the lowest quintile. The highest risks were among those living within 75 m of a freeway/highway. Most traffic metrics correlated moderately well with actual pollutant measurements.

Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence that even in an area with good regional air quality, proximity to traffic is associated with adverse respiratory health effects in children.

Background: Several studies have found an effect on mortality of between-city contrasts in long-term exposure to air pollution. The effect of within-city contrasts is still poorly understood.

Objectives: We studied the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and mortality in a Dutch cohort.

Methods: We used data from an ongoing cohort study on diet and cancer with 120,852 subjects who were followed from 1987 to 1996. Exposure to black smoke (BS), nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter ≤mu;M_2.5), as well as various exposure variables related to traffic, were estimated at the home address. We conducted Cox analyses in the full cohort adjusting for age, sex, smoking, and area-level socioeconomic status.

Results: Traffic intensity on the nearest road was independently associated with mortality. Relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for a 10-μg/m increase in BS concentrations (difference between 5th and 95th percentile) were 1.05 (1.00–1.11) for natural cause, 1.04 (0.95–1.13) for cardiovascular, 1.22 (0.99–1.50) for respiratory, 1.03 (0.88–1.20) for lung cancer, and 1.04 (0.97–1.12) for mortality other than cardiovascular, respiratory, or lung cancer. Results were similar for NO₂ and PM_2.5, but no associations were found for SO₂.

Conclusions: Traffic-related air pollution and several traffic exposure variables were associated with mortality in the full cohort. Relative risks were generally small. Associations between natural-cause and respiratory mortality were statistically significant for NO₂ and BS. These results add to the evidence that long-term exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with increased mortality.

Background: Despite extensive evidence that air pollution affects childhood asthma, state-level and national-level tracking of asthma outcomes in relation to air pollution is limited.

Objectives: Our goals were to evaluate the feasibility of linking the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), air monitoring, and traffic data; estimate associations between traffic density (TD) or outdoor air pollutant concentrations and childhood asthma morbidity; and evaluate the usefulness of such databases, linkages, and analyses to Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT).

Methods: We estimated TD within 500 feet of residential cross-streets of respondents and annual average pollutant concentrations based on monitoring station measurements. We used logistic regression to examine associations with reported asthma symptoms and emergency department (ED) visits/hospitalizations.

Results: Assignment of TD and air pollution exposures for cross-streets was successful for 82% of children with asthma in Los Angeles and San Diego, California, Counties. Children with asthma living in high ozone areas and areas with high concentrations of particulate matter < 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter experienced symptoms more frequently, and those living close to heavy traffic reported more ED visits/hospitalizations. The advantages of the CHIS for asthma EPHT include a large and representative sample, biennial data collection, and ascertainment of important socio-demographic and residential address information. Disadvantages are its cross-sectional design, reliance on parental reports of diagnoses and symptoms, and lack of information on some potential confounders.

Conclusions: Despite limitations, the CHIS provides a useful framework for examining air pollution and childhood asthma morbidity in support of EPHT, especially because later surveys address some noted gaps. We plan to employ CHIS 2003 and 2005 data and novel exposure assessment methods to re-examine the questions raised here.

Background: Numerous studies have linked criteria air pollutants with adverse birth outcomes, but there is less information on the importance of specific emission sources, such as traffic, and air toxics.

Objectives: We used three exposure data sources to examine odds of term low birth weight (LBW) in Los Angeles, California, women when exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollutants during pregnancy.

Methods: We identified term births during 1 June 2004 to 30 March 2006 to women residing within 5 miles of a South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES III) monitoring station. Pregnancy period average exposures were estimated for air toxics, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), source-specific particulate matter < 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM_2.5) based on a chemical mass balance model, criteria air pollutants from government monitoring data, and land use regression (LUR) model estimates of nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x). Associations between these metrics and odds of term LBW (< 2,500 g) were examined using logistic regression.

Results: Odds of term LBW increased approximately 5% per interquartile range increase in entire pregnancy exposures to several correlated traffic pollutants: LUR measures of NO, NO₂, and NO_x, elemental carbon, and PM_2.5 from diesel and gasoline combustion and paved road dust (geological PM_2.5).

Conclusions: These analyses provide additional evidence of the potential impact of traffic-related air pollution on fetal growth. Particles from traffic sources should be a focus of future studies.

Background: The fractional concentration of nitric oxide in exhaled air (Fe_NO) potentially detects airway inflammation related to air pollution exposure. Existing studies have not yet provided conclusive evidence on the association of Fe_NO with traffic-related pollution (TRP).

Objectives: We evaluated the association of Fe_NO with residential TRP exposure in a large cohort of children.

Methods: We related Fe_NO measured on 2,143 children (ages 7–11 years) who participated in the Southern California Children’s Health Study (CHS) to five classes of metrics of residential TRP: distances to freeways and major roads; length of all and local roads within circular buffers around the home; traffic densities within buffers; annual average line source dispersion modeled nitrogen oxides (NO_x) from freeways and nonfreeway roads; and predicted annual average nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and NO_x from a model based on intracommunity sampling in the CHS.

Results: In children with asthma, length of roads was positively associated with Fe_NO, with stronger associations in smaller buffers [46.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 14.3–88.4], 12.4% (95% CI, –8.8 to 38.4), and 4.1% (95% CI, –14.6 to 26.8) higher Fe_NO for 100-, 300-, and 1,000-m increases in the length of all roads in 50-, 100-, and 200-m buffers, respectively. Other TRP metrics were not significantly associated with Fe_NO, even though the study design was powered to detect exposures explaining as little as 0.4% of the variation in natural log-transformed Fe_NO (R = 0.004).

Conclusion: Length of road was the only indicator of residential TRP exposure associated with airway inflammation in children with asthma, as measured by Fe_NO.

Background: Traffic-related particles (TRPs) are associated with adverse cardiovascular events. The exact mechanisms are unclear, but systemic inflammatory responses likely play a role.

Objectives: We conducted a repeated measures study among male participants of the Normative Aging Study in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area to determine whether individual-level residential black carbon (BC), a marker of TRPs, is associated with systemic inflammation and whether coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes, and obesity modify associations.

Methods: We quantified markers of inflammation in 1,163 serum samples from 580 men. Exposure to BC up to 4 weeks prior was predicted from a validated spatiotemporal land-use regression model. Linear mixed effects models estimated the effects of BC on each marker while adjusting for potential confounders.

Results: Associations between BC and blood markers were not observed in main effects models or when stratified by obesity status. However, BC was positively associated with markers of inflammation in men with CHD (particularly vascular endothelial growth factor) and in men with diabetes (particularly interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α). Significant exposure time windows varied by marker, although in general the strongest associations were observed with moving averages of 2–7 days after a lag of several days.

Conclusions: In an elderly male population, estimated BC exposures were positively associated with markers of systemic inflammation but only in men with CHD or diabetes.

Background: Previous research has documented effects of both physical and social environmental exposures on childhood asthma. However, few studies have considered how these two environments might interact to affect asthma.

Objective: This study aimed to test interactions between chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution and chronic family stress in predicting biologic and clinical outcomes in children with asthma.

Method: Children with asthma (n = 73, 9–18 years of age) were interviewed about life stress, and asthma-relevant inflammatory markers [cytokine production, immunoglobulin E (IgE), eosinophil counts] were measured. Parents reported on children’s symptoms. Children completed daily diaries of symptoms and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measures at baseline and 6 months later. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution was assessed using a land use regression model for nitrogen dioxide concentrations.

Results: NO₂ by stress interactions were found for interleukin-5 (β for interaction term = −0.31, p = 0.02), IgE (interaction β = −0.29, p = 0.02), and eosinophil counts (interaction β = −0.24, p = 0.04). These interactions showed that higher chronic stress was associated with heightened inflammatory profiles as pollution levels decreased. Longitudinally, NO₂ by stress interactions emerged for daily diary symptoms (interaction β = −0.28, p = 0.02), parent-reported symptoms (interaction β = −0.25, p = 0.07), and PEFR (interaction β = 0.30, p = 0.03). These interactions indicated that higher chronic stress was associated with increases over time in symptoms and decreases over time in PEFR as pollution levels decreased.

Conclusions: The physical and social environments interacted in predicting both biologic and clinical outcomes in children with asthma, suggesting that when pollution exposure is more modest, vulnerability to asthma exacerbations may be heightened in children with higher chronic stress.

Background: Although a number of studies have documented the relationship between lung function and traffic-related pollution among children, few have focused on adult lung function or examined community-based populations.

Objective: We examined the relationship between black carbon (BC), a surrogate of traffic-related particles, and lung function among women in the Maternal–Infant Smoking Study of East Boston, an urban cohort in Boston, Massachusetts.

Methods: We estimated local BC levels using a validated spatiotemporal land-use regression model, derived using ambient and indoor monitor data. We examined associations between percent predicted pulmonary function and predicted BC using linear regression, adjusting for sociodemographics (individual and neighborhood levels), smoking status, occupational exposure, type of cooking fuel, and a diagnosis of asthma or chronic bronchitis.

Results: The sample of 272 women 18–42 years of age included 57% who self-identified as Hispanic versus 43% white, and 18% who were current smokers. Mean ± SD predicted annual BC exposure level was 0.62 ± 0.2 μg/m. In adjusted analysis, BC (per interquartile range increase) was associated with a 1.1% decrease [95% confidence interval (CI), −2.5% to 0.3%] in forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, a 0.6% decrease (95% CI, −1.9% to 0.6%) in forced vital capacity, and a 3.0% decrease (95% CI, −5.8% to −0.2%) in forced mid-expiratory flow rate. We noted differential effects by smoking status in that former smokers were most affected by BC exposure, whereas current smokers were not affected.

Conclusion: In this cohort, exposure to traffic-related BC, a component of particulate matter, independently predicted decreased lung function in urban women, when adjusting for tobacco smoke, asthma diagnosis, and socioeconomic status.

Background: For people living close to busy roads, traffic is a major source of air pollution. Few prospective data have been published on the effects of long-term exposure to traffic on the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Objectives: In this article, we examined the association between long-term traffic exposure and incidence of fatal and nonfatal CHD in a population-based prospective cohort study.

Methods: We studied 13,309 middle-age men and women in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, without previous CHD at enrollment, from 1987 to 1989 in four U.S. communities. Geographic information system–mapped traffic density and distance to major roads served as measures of traffic exposure. We examined the association between traffic exposure and incident CHD using proportional hazards regression models, with adjustment for background air pollution and a wide range of individual cardiovascular risk factors.

Results: Over an average of 13 years of follow-up, 976 subjects developed CHD. Relative to those in the lowest quartile of traffic density, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) in the highest quartile was 1.32 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06–1.65; p-value for trend across quartiles = 0.042]. When we treated traffic density as a continuous variable, the adjusted HR per one unit increase of log-transformed density was 1.03 (95% CI, 1.01–1.05; p = 0.006). For residents living within 300 m of major roads compared with those living farther away, the adjusted HR was 1.12 (95% CI, 0.95–1.32; p = 0.189). We found little evidence of effect modification for sex, smoking status, obesity, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, hypertension, age, or education.

Conclusion: Higher long-term exposure to traffic is associated with incidence of CHD, independent of other risk factors. These prospective data support an effect of traffic-related air pollution on the development of CHD in middle-age persons.