Surrounding green, air pollution, traffic noise exposure and non-accidental and cause-specific mortality

Jochem O Klompmaker; Gerard Hoek; Lizan D Bloemsma; Marten Marra; Alet H Wijga; Carolien van den Brink; Bert Brunekreef; Erik Lebret; Ulrike Gehring; Nicole A H Janssen

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105341

Surrounding green, air pollution, traffic noise exposure and non-accidental and cause-specific mortality

Environ Int. 2020 Jan:134:105341. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105341. Epub 2019 Nov 26.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Electronic address: jochem.klompmaker@rivm.nl.
² Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
³ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
⁴ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
⁵ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

PMID: 31783239
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105341

Abstract

Background: Most previous studies that investigated associations of surrounding green, air pollution or traffic noise with mortality focused on single exposures.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate combined associations of long-term residential exposure to surrounding green, air pollution and traffic noise with total non-accidental and cause-specific mortality.

Methods: We linked a national health survey (Public Health Monitor, PHM) conducted in 2012 to the Dutch longitudinal mortality database. Subjects of the survey who were 30 years or older on 1 January 2013 (n = 339,633) were followed from 1 January 2013 till 31 December 2017. We used Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate associations of residential surrounding green (including the average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in buffers of 300 m and 1000 m), annual average air pollutant concentrations (including particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)) and traffic noise with non-accidental, circulatory disease, respiratory disease, lung cancer and neurodegenerative disease mortality.

Results: We observed 26,886 non-accidental deaths over 1.627.365 person-years of follow-up. Surrounding green, air pollution and traffic noise exposure were not significantly associated with non-accidental or cause-specific mortality. For non-accidental mortality, we found a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.99 (0.98, 1.01) per IQR increase in NDVI 300 m, a HR of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.01) per IQR increase in NO₂, a HR of 0.98 (0.97, 1.00) per IQR increase in PM_2.5 and a HR of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.01) per IQR increase in road-traffic noise. Analyses restricted to non-movers or excluding subjects aged 85+ years did not change the findings.

Conclusion: We found no evidence for associations of long-term residential exposures to surrounding green, air pollution and traffic noise with non-accidental or cause-specific mortality in a large population based survey in the Netherlands, possibly related to the relatively short follow-up period.

Keywords: Mortality; NDVI; NO(2); PM(2.5); Traffic noise.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Air Pollutants / adverse effects*
Environment
Environmental Exposure / adverse effects*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality*
Netherlands / epidemiology
Neurodegenerative Diseases*
Noise / adverse effects*
Particulate Matter
Traffic-Related Pollution / adverse effects*

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter