Indoor particles linked to death risk in older Chinese adults

In a nationwide prospective cohort study, researchers tracked 12,607 older adults in China with an average age of nearly 87 years from 2008 to 2018. They estimated indoor exposure to fine particle pollution and its chemical components over a median follow-up of 4.14 years, during which 8,643 participants died. Higher indoor levels of fine particles, black carbon, organic matter, and sulfate were each linked to increased all-cause mortality. Each one-microgram per cubic metre rise in fine particles was associated with a 0.3% higher risk of death. For black carbon, that same rise was linked to a 7.2% higher risk, while organic matter and sulfate were linked to 0.9% and 1.0% higher risks, respectively. Fine particle exposure was also associated with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, a marker of systemic inflammation.