TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term exposure to air pollution and mortality in Scotland
T2 - a register-based individual-level longitudinal study
AU - Abed Al Ahad, Mary
AU - Demsar, Urska
AU - Sullivan, Frank
AU - Kulu, Hill
N1 - Funding: This study is funded by the St Leonard’s interdisciplinary PhD scholarship, School of Geography and Sustainable Development, and School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - BackgroundAir
pollution is associated with several adverse health outcomes. However,
heterogeneity in the size of effect estimates between cohort studies for
long-term exposures exist and pollutants like SO2 and
mental/behavioural health outcomes are little studied. This study
examines the association between long-term exposure to multiple ambient
air pollutants and all-cause and cause-specific mortality from both
physical and mental illnesses.MethodsWe used individual-level administrative data from the Scottish-Longitudinal-Study (SLS)
on 202,237 individuals aged 17 and older, followed between 2002 and
2017. The SLS dataset was linked to annual concentrations of NO2, SO2, and particulate-matter (PM10, PM2.5) pollution at 1 km2
spatial resolution using the individuals’ residential postcode. We
applied survival analysis to assess the association between air
pollution and all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer,
mental/behavioural disorders/suicides, and other-causes mortality.ResultsHigher all-cause mortality was associated with increasing concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and SO2 pollutants. NO2,
PM10, and PM2.5 were also associated with cardiovascular, respiratory,
cancer and other-causes mortality. For example, the mortality hazard
from respiratory diseases was 1.062 (95%CI = 1.028–1.096), 1.025
(95%CI = 1.005–1.045), and 1.013 (95%CI = 1.007–1.020) per 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 pollutants, respectively. In contrast, mortality from mental and behavioural disorders was associated with 1 μg/m3 higher exposure to SO2 pollutant (HR = 1.042; 95%CI = 1.015–1.069).ConclusionThis
study revealed an association between long-term (16-years) exposure to
ambient air pollution and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. The
results suggest that policies and interventions to enhance air quality
would reduce the mortality hazard from cardio-respiratory, cancer, and
mental/behavioural disorders in the long-term.
AB - BackgroundAir
pollution is associated with several adverse health outcomes. However,
heterogeneity in the size of effect estimates between cohort studies for
long-term exposures exist and pollutants like SO2 and
mental/behavioural health outcomes are little studied. This study
examines the association between long-term exposure to multiple ambient
air pollutants and all-cause and cause-specific mortality from both
physical and mental illnesses.MethodsWe used individual-level administrative data from the Scottish-Longitudinal-Study (SLS)
on 202,237 individuals aged 17 and older, followed between 2002 and
2017. The SLS dataset was linked to annual concentrations of NO2, SO2, and particulate-matter (PM10, PM2.5) pollution at 1 km2
spatial resolution using the individuals’ residential postcode. We
applied survival analysis to assess the association between air
pollution and all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer,
mental/behavioural disorders/suicides, and other-causes mortality.ResultsHigher all-cause mortality was associated with increasing concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and SO2 pollutants. NO2,
PM10, and PM2.5 were also associated with cardiovascular, respiratory,
cancer and other-causes mortality. For example, the mortality hazard
from respiratory diseases was 1.062 (95%CI = 1.028–1.096), 1.025
(95%CI = 1.005–1.045), and 1.013 (95%CI = 1.007–1.020) per 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 pollutants, respectively. In contrast, mortality from mental and behavioural disorders was associated with 1 μg/m3 higher exposure to SO2 pollutant (HR = 1.042; 95%CI = 1.015–1.069).ConclusionThis
study revealed an association between long-term (16-years) exposure to
ambient air pollution and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. The
results suggest that policies and interventions to enhance air quality
would reduce the mortality hazard from cardio-respiratory, cancer, and
mental/behavioural disorders in the long-term.
KW - Air pollutiion
KW - Mortality
KW - Cardio-respiratory
KW - Mental disorders
KW - Scottish longitudinal study
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117223
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117223
M3 - Article
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 238
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
IS - 2
M1 - 117223
ER -