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Journal of Investigative Medicine

Air pollution linked to multiple chronic conditions in China

A cohort study followed 8,725 Chinese adults aged 45 and older from 2011 to 2020, linking long-term pollution exposure to developing multiple chronic conditions.

Paper by Mingcheng Xu, Yu Han, Hongwei Zhao, +3 more authorsShuang Liu

Our read

Populations
Studied:
Cohort study of 8,725 Chinese adults aged 45 and older, 2011 to 2020
What changed:
Long-term air pollution exposure was linked to higher risk of developing multiple chronic conditions
The catch:
Differences in living conditions could explain part of the link between pollution and disease
In the record:
The 502nd paper on fine particulate matter with results in people; 686 on record in all. Its result on cardiometabolic multimorbidity agrees with all 6 other findings on record.
Why it’s aging research:
It measures an outcome that worsens with age.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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Among 8,725 Chinese adults aged 45 and older, long-term air pollution exposure was linked to developing multiple chronic conditions in a nationwide observational cohort study. Participants lived across 28 provinces and entered the study in 2011. None had two or more of the four conditions assessed: high blood pressure, diabetes, heart and blood vessel disease, and stroke. People with one condition were included.

Follow-up continued through 2020. Long-term exposure to each of five pollutants—three sizes of airborne particles, ozone and nitrogen dioxide—was associated with a higher risk of developing at least two of these conditions. The links were stronger among people with less education and shorter sleep duration.

Why it matters

For preventing multiple chronic conditions in middle and later life, the authors emphasized better air quality and targeted public health strategies for disadvantaged groups and people who sleep less.

Caveats

People exposed to more pollution may also have differed in living conditions or other health risks that contributed to disease. The analysis included only Chinese adults aged 45 and older without multiple listed conditions at baseline and with complete follow-up through 2020.

Where the evidence stands

Ozone

Mice and humans: replicated by independent labs. Worms or flies: a single group. Cells: nothing yet.

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

  • 80 independent labs in 19 countries
  • 18 findings against
  • Funders: National Institutes of Health and others
  • 3 of 170 findings with company ties

Nitrogen dioxide

Humans: replicated by independent labs. Mice: a single group. Cells and worms or flies: nothing yet.

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

  • 103 independent labs in 25 countries
  • 14 findings against
  • Funders: National Institutes of Health and others
  • 11 of 213 findings with company ties

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