TY - JOUR

T1 - Medium term moderate to low-level air pollution exposure is associated with higher C-reactive protein among healthy Danish blood donors

AU - Kjerulff, Bertram

AU - Thisted Horsdal, Henriette

AU - Kaspersen, Kathrine

AU - Mikkelsen, Susan

AU - Manh Dinh, Khoa

AU - Hørup Larsen, Margit

AU - Rye Ostrowski, Sisse

AU - Ullum, Henrik

AU - Sørensen, Erik

AU - Birger Pedersen, Ole

AU - Topholm Bruun, Mie

AU - René Nielsen, Kaspar

AU - Brandt, Jørgen

AU - Geels, Camilla

AU - Frohn, Lise M.

AU - Christensen, Jesper H.

AU - Sigsgaard, Torben

AU - Eric Sabel, Clive

AU - Bøcker Pedersen, Carsten

AU - Erikstrup, Christian

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by funding from BERTHA - the Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Programme (grant NNF17OC0027864 ). The Danish Blood Donor Study is funded by the Danish Administrative Regions, the Danish Council for Independent Research-Medical Sciences, Bio- and Genome Bank Denmark, and the Danish Blood Donor Research Foundation. The funders had no part in design, data collection, analysis, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Air pollution is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease with a plethora of associated health effects such as pulmonary and systemic inflammation. C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with a wide range of diseases and is associated with several exposures. Studies on the effect of air pollution exposure on CRP levels in low to moderate pollution settings have shown inconsistent results. In this cross-sectional study high sensitivity CRP measurements on 18,463 Danish blood donors were linked to modelled air pollution data for NOx, NO2, O3, CO, SO2, NH3, mineral dust, black carbon, organic carbon, sea salt, secondary inorganic aerosols and its components, primary PM2.5, secondary organic aerosols, total PM2.5, and total PM10 at their residential address over the previous month. Associations were analysed using ordered logistic regression with CRP quartile as individuals outcome and air pollution exposure as scaled deciles. Analyses were adjusted for health related and socioeconomic covariates using health questionnaires and Danish register data. Exposure to different air pollution components was generally associated with higher CRP (odds ratio estimates ranging from 1.11 to 1.67), while exposure to a few air pollution components was associated with lower CRP. For example, exposure to NO2 increased the odds of high CRP 1.32-fold (95%CI 1.16–1.49), while exposure to NH3 decreased the odds of high CRP 0.81-fold (95%CI 0.73–0.89). This large study among healthy individuals found air pollution exposure to be associated with increased levels of CRP even in a setting with low to moderate air pollution levels.

AB - Air pollution is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease with a plethora of associated health effects such as pulmonary and systemic inflammation. C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with a wide range of diseases and is associated with several exposures. Studies on the effect of air pollution exposure on CRP levels in low to moderate pollution settings have shown inconsistent results. In this cross-sectional study high sensitivity CRP measurements on 18,463 Danish blood donors were linked to modelled air pollution data for NOx, NO2, O3, CO, SO2, NH3, mineral dust, black carbon, organic carbon, sea salt, secondary inorganic aerosols and its components, primary PM2.5, secondary organic aerosols, total PM2.5, and total PM10 at their residential address over the previous month. Associations were analysed using ordered logistic regression with CRP quartile as individuals outcome and air pollution exposure as scaled deciles. Analyses were adjusted for health related and socioeconomic covariates using health questionnaires and Danish register data. Exposure to different air pollution components was generally associated with higher CRP (odds ratio estimates ranging from 1.11 to 1.67), while exposure to a few air pollution components was associated with lower CRP. For example, exposure to NO2 increased the odds of high CRP 1.32-fold (95%CI 1.16–1.49), while exposure to NH3 decreased the odds of high CRP 0.81-fold (95%CI 0.73–0.89). This large study among healthy individuals found air pollution exposure to be associated with increased levels of CRP even in a setting with low to moderate air pollution levels.

KW - Air pollution

KW - Air pollution exposure

KW - Blood donors

KW - C-reactive protein

KW - Cross-sectional study

KW - Environmental health effects

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163284071&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116426

DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116426

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37336432

AN - SCOPUS:85163284071

VL - 233

JO - Environmental Research

JF - Environmental Research

SN - 0013-9351

M1 - 116426

ER -