Consumption of fruit and vegetables might mitigate the adverse effects of ambient PM2.5 on lung function among adults

Abstract

Background: Evidence on the effects of ambient PM_2.5 on lung function is limited among adults and the effect modification by dietary fruit and vegetables remains largely unknown.

Methods: We interviewed 29,032 participants aged 50 years and older from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health. Annual average PM_2.5 levels were estimated for each community using satellite data. We applied multi-level linear regressions to examine the association between ambient PM_2.5 and lung function (forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1-sec (FEV₁), FEV₁/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), and forced expiratory flow between 25th and 75th percentiles of FVC (FEF_25-75)).

Results: We found that ambient PM_2.5 was associated with lower lung functions. Each 10μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 corresponded to reductions of 123.58ml in FVC (95% CI: -185.21, -61.95), 126.64ml in FEV₁ (95% CI: -186.04, -67.23) and 178.93ml/s FEV_25-75 (95% CI: -249.20, -108.66). Lower effect estimates were observed among those with higher consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that exposure to ambient PM_2.5 might be one risk factor of reduced lung function in adults and that higher consumption of fruit and vegetables may mitigate this effect.

Keywords: Aging; Low- and middle-income country; Lung function; PM(2.5).