Traffic-related air pollution is associated with glucose dysregulation, blood pressure, and oxidative stress in children

Jennifer K Mann; Liza Lutzker; Stephanie M Holm; Helene G Margolis; Andreas M Neophytou; Ellen A Eisen; Sadie Costello; Tim Tyner; Nina Holland; Gwen Tindula; Mary Prunicki; Kari Nadeau; Elizabeth M Noth; Fred Lurmann; S Katharine Hammond; John R Balmes

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.110870

Traffic-related air pollution is associated with glucose dysregulation, blood pressure, and oxidative stress in children

Environ Res. 2021 Apr:195:110870. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110870. Epub 2021 Feb 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
² Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁴ Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
⁵ University of California, San Francisco-Fresno, Fresno, CA, USA; Central California Asthma Collaborative, USA.
⁶ Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
⁷ Sonoma Technology, Petaluma, CA, USA.
⁸ Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: jbalmes@berkeley.edu.

Abstract

Background: Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. Antecedents likely begin in childhood and whether childhood exposure to air pollution plays a contributory role is not well understood.

Objectives: To assess whether children's exposure to air pollution is associated with markers of risk for metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress, a hypothesized mediator of air pollution-related health effects.

Methods: We studied 299 children (ages 6-8) living in the Fresno, CA area. At a study center visit, questionnaire and biomarker data were collected. Outcomes included hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), urinary 8-isoprostane, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and BMI. Individual-level exposure estimates for a set of four pollutants that are constituents of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) - the sum of 4-, 5-, and 6-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (PAH456), NO₂, elemental carbon, and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) - were modeled at the primary residential location for 1-day lag, and 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year averages prior to each participant's visit date. Generalized additive models were used to estimate associations between each air pollutant exposure and outcome.

Results: The study population was 53% male, 80% Latinx, 11% Black and largely low-income (6% were White and 3% were Asian/Pacific Islander). HbA1c percentage was associated with longer-term increases in TRAP; for example a 4.42 ng/m³ increase in 6-month average PAH456 was associated with a 0.07% increase (95% CI: 0.01, 0.14) and a 3.62 μg/m³ increase in 6-month average PM_2.5 was associated with a 0.06% increase (95% CI: 0.01, 0.10). The influence of air pollutants on blood pressure was strongest at 3 months; for example, a 6.2 ppb increase in 3-month average NO₂ was associated with a 9.4 mmHg increase in SBP (95% CI: 2.8, 15.9). TRAP concentrations were not significantly associated with anthropometric or adipokine measures. Short-term TRAP exposure averages were significantly associated with creatinine-adjusted urinary 8-isoprostane.

Discussion: Our results suggest that both short- and longer-term estimated individual-level outdoor residential exposures to several traffic-related air pollutants, including ambient PAHs, are associated with biomarkers of risk for metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress in children.

Keywords: Children; HbA1c; Metabolic syndrome; Oxidative stress; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Traffic-related air pollution.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adult
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollutants* / toxicity
Air Pollution* / adverse effects
Air Pollution* / analysis
Blood Pressure
Child
Environmental Exposure / adverse effects
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Female
Glucose
Humans
Male
Oxidative Stress
Particulate Matter / analysis
Particulate Matter / toxicity

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
Glucose

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding