Urbanization, air pollution, and water pollution: Identification of potential environmental risk factors associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using systematic reviews

Abstract

Introduction: Despite decades of research, causes of ALS remain unclear. To evaluate recent hypotheses of plausible environmental factors, the aim of this study was to synthesize and appraise literature on the potential associations between the surrounding environment, including urbanization, air pollution and water pollution, and ALS.

Methods: We conducted a series (n = 3) of systematic reviews in PubMed and Scopus to identify epidemiological studies assessing relationships between urbanization, air pollution and water pollution with the development of ALS.

Results: The combined search strategy led to the inclusion of 44 articles pertaining to at least one exposure of interest. Of the 25 included urbanization studies, four of nine studies on living in rural areas and three of seven studies on living in more highly urbanized/dense areas found positive associations to ALS. There were also three of five studies for exposure to electromagnetic fields and/or proximity to powerlines that found positive associations to ALS. Three case-control studies for each of diesel exhaust and nitrogen dioxide found positive associations with the development of ALS, with the latter showing a dose-response in one study. Three studies for each of high selenium content in drinking water and proximity to lakes prone to cyanobacterial blooms also found positive associations to ALS.

Conclusion: Whereas markers of air and water pollution appear as potential risk factors for ALS, results are mixed for the role of urbanization.

Keywords: air pollution; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; diesel exhaust; environmental risk factors; heavy metals; systematic review; urbanization; water pollution.