Exposure to ambient air pollution and elevated blood levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase in a large Austrian cohort

Jan Wirsching; Gabriele Nagel; Ming-Yi Tsai; Kees de Hoogh; Andrea Jaensch; Bernhard Anwander; Ranjeet S Sokhi; Hanno Ulmer; Emanuel Zitt; Hans Concin; Bert Brunekreef; Gerard Hoek; Gudrun Weinmayr

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163658

Exposure to ambient air pollution and elevated blood levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase in a large Austrian cohort

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 20:883:163658. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163658. Epub 2023 Apr 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
² Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany; Agency for Preventive and Social Medicine, Bregenz (aks), Austria.
³ Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴ Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Institut für Umwelt und Lebensmittelsicherheit des Landes Vorarlberg, Bregenz, Austria.
⁶ Centre for Atmospheric and Climate Physics Research (CACP), School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK.
⁷ Department of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Health Economics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
⁸ Agency for Preventive and Social Medicine, Bregenz (aks), Austria; Department of Internal Medicine 3, LKH Feldkirch, Feldkirch, Austria.
⁹ Agency for Preventive and Social Medicine, Bregenz (aks), Austria.
¹⁰ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
¹² Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: gudrun.weinmayr@uni-ulm.de.

PMID: 37100134
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163658

Abstract

Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) is related to oxidative stress and an indicator for liver damage. We investigated the association between air pollution and GGT in a large Austrian cohort (N = 116,109) to better understand how air pollution affects human health. Data come from voluntary prevention visits that were routinely collected within the Vorarlberg Health Monitoring and Prevention Program (VHM&PP). Recruitment was ongoing from 1985 to 2005. Blood was drawn and GGT measured centralized in two laboratories. Land use regression models were applied to estimate individuals' exposure at their home address for particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of <2.5 μm (PM2.5), <10 μm (PM10), fraction between 10 μm and 2.5 μm (PMcoarse), as well as PM2.5 absorbance (PM2.5abs), NO₂, NO_x and eight components of PM. Linear regression models, adjusting for relevant individual and community-level confounders were calculated. The study population was 56 % female with a mean age of 42 years and mean GGT was 19.0 units. Individual PM2.5 and NO₂ exposures were essentially below European limit values of 25 and 40 μg/m³, respectively, with means of 13.58 μg/m³ for PM2.5 and 19.93 μg/m³ for NO₂. Positive associations were observed for PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5abs, NO₂, NO_x, and Cu, K, S in PM2.5 and PM10 fractions and Zn mainly in PM2.5 fraction. The strongest association per interquartile range observed was an increase of serum GGT concentration by 1.40 % (95 %-CI: 0.85 %; 1.95 %) per 45.7 ng/m³ S in PM2.5. Associations were robust to adjustments for other biomarkers, in two-pollutant models and the subset with a stable residential history. We found that long-term exposure to air pollution (PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5abs, NO₂, NO_x) as well as certain elements, were positively associated with baseline GGT levels. The elements associated suggest a role of traffic emissions, long range transport and wood burning.

Keywords: Chemical elements; GGT; Long-term exposure; Nitrogen oxides; Particulate matter; Sources.

MeSH terms

Adult
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / analysis
Austria
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Female
Humans
Male
Nitrogen Dioxide
Particulate Matter / analysis
gamma-Glutamyltransferase

Substances

Air Pollutants
Nitrogen Dioxide
gamma-Glutamyltransferase
Particulate Matter