Effects of short- and long-term exposures to particulate matter on inflammatory marker levels in the general population

Dai-Hua Tsai (1, 2) , Michael Riediker (3) , Antoine Berchet (4, 5) , Fred Paccaud (2) , Gerard Waeber (2) , Peter Vollenweider (2) , Murielle Bochud (3)

1 University hospital of Zurich [Zurich]
2 CHUV - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois = Lausanne University Hospital [Lausanne]
3 UNIL - Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne
4 SATINV - Modélisation INVerse pour les mesures atmosphériques et SATellitaires
5 EMPA - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology [Dübendorf]

Backround: The effect of particulate matter (PM) on health increases with exposure duration but the change from short to longer term is not well studied. Objectives: We examined the exposure to PM smaller 10 μm (PM$_{10}$) from short to longer duration and their associations with levels of inflammatory markers in the population-based CoLaus cohort in Lausanne, Switzerland. Methods: Baseline and follow-up CoLaus data were used to study the associations between PM$_{10}$ exposure and inflammatory markers, including the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor-necrosis-factor alpha (TNF-α) using mixed models. Exposure was determined for each participant’s home address from hourly air quality simulations at a 5-m resolution. Short-term exposure intervals were 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month prior to the hospital visit (blood withdrawal); long-term exposure intervals were 3 and 6 months prior to the visit. Results: In most time windows, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α were positively associated with PM$_{10}$. No significant associations were identified for CRP. Adjusted associations with long-term exposures were stronger and more significant than those for short-term exposures. In stratified models, gender, age, smoking status, and hypertension only led to small modifications in effect estimates, though a few of the estimates for IL-6 and TNF-α became non-significant. Conclusion: In this general adult cohort exposed to relatively low average PM10 levels, clear associations with markers of systemic inflammation were observed. Longer duration of elevated exposure was associated with an exacerbated inflammatory response. This may partially explain the elevated disease risk observed with chronic PM$_{10}$ exposure. It also suggests that reducing prolonged episodes of high PM exposure may be a strategy to reduce inflammatory risk.

Mots clés: Particulate matter; Inflammation; Short-term; Long-term; modeling; air pollution

Domaines: Santé; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Biodiversité et Ecologie

Dai-Hua Tsai, Michael Riediker, Antoine Berchet, Fred Paccaud, Gerard Waeber, et al.. Effects of short- and long-term exposures to particulate matter on inflammatory marker levels in the general population. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019, 26 (19), pp.19697-19704. ⟨10.1007/s11356-019-05194-y⟩. ⟨hal-02974171⟩