TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term air pollution exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Netherlands
T2 - A population-based case–control study
AU - Seelen, Meinie
AU - Toro Campos, Rosario A.
AU - Veldink, Jan H.
AU - Visser, Anne E.
AU - Hoek, Gerard
AU - Brunekreef, Bert
AU - van der Kooi, Anneke J.
AU - de Visser, Marianne
AU - Raaphorst, Joost
AU - van den Berg, Leonard H.
AU - Vermeulen, Roel C.H.
N1 - Funding Information: J.H.V. received travel grants from Baxter. G.H. received grants from European Union. L.H.v.d.B. received travel grants and consultancy fees from Baxter and Biogen Idec, and he serves on scientific advisory boards for Cytokinetics, Biogen Idec, and Baxalta. Funding Information: This study was funded by Netherlands ALS Foundation; Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds; the European Community’s Health Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreements No. 259867 and 211250); ZonMW under the frame of E-Rare-2, the European Research Area-Network on Rare Diseases; EU Joint Programme– Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) project (SOPHIA and STRENGTH projects); and Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (Vici scheme to L.H.v.d.B.). Publisher Copyright: © 2017, Public Health Services, US Dept of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/9
Y1 - 2017/9
N2 - BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been increasing evidence that exposure to air pollution is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, but little is known about the association with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and risk of developing ALS. METHODS: A population-based case–control study was conducted in Netherlands from 1 January 2006 to 1 January 2013. Data from 917 ALS patients and 2,662 controls were analyzed. Annual mean air pollution concentrations were assessed by land use regression (LUR) models developed as part of the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). Exposure estimates included nitrogen oxides (NO2, NOx), particulate matter (PM) with diameters of <2.5 μm (PM2.5), <10 μm (PM10), between 10 μm and 2.5 μm (PMcoarse), and PM2.5 absorbance. We performed conditional logistic regression analysis using two different multivariate models (model 1 adjusted for age, gender, education, smoking status, alcohol use, body mass index, and socioeconomic status; model 2 additionally adjusted for urbanization degree). RESULTS: Risk of ALS was significantly increased for individuals in the upper exposure quartile of PM2:5 absorbance [OR = 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27, 2.18], NO2 (OR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.30), and NOx concentrations (OR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.77). These results, except for NOx, remained significant after adjusting additionally for urbanization degree. CONCLUSIONS: Based on a large population-based case–control study, we report evidence for the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and increased susceptibility to ALS. Our findings further support the necessity for regulatory public health interventions to combat air pollution levels and provide additional insight into the potential pathophysiology of ALS.
AB - BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been increasing evidence that exposure to air pollution is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, but little is known about the association with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and risk of developing ALS. METHODS: A population-based case–control study was conducted in Netherlands from 1 January 2006 to 1 January 2013. Data from 917 ALS patients and 2,662 controls were analyzed. Annual mean air pollution concentrations were assessed by land use regression (LUR) models developed as part of the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). Exposure estimates included nitrogen oxides (NO2, NOx), particulate matter (PM) with diameters of <2.5 μm (PM2.5), <10 μm (PM10), between 10 μm and 2.5 μm (PMcoarse), and PM2.5 absorbance. We performed conditional logistic regression analysis using two different multivariate models (model 1 adjusted for age, gender, education, smoking status, alcohol use, body mass index, and socioeconomic status; model 2 additionally adjusted for urbanization degree). RESULTS: Risk of ALS was significantly increased for individuals in the upper exposure quartile of PM2:5 absorbance [OR = 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27, 2.18], NO2 (OR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.30), and NOx concentrations (OR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.77). These results, except for NOx, remained significant after adjusting additionally for urbanization degree. CONCLUSIONS: Based on a large population-based case–control study, we report evidence for the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and increased susceptibility to ALS. Our findings further support the necessity for regulatory public health interventions to combat air pollution levels and provide additional insight into the potential pathophysiology of ALS.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85036560422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1115
DO - https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1115
M3 - Article
C2 - 29989551
SN - 0091-6765
VL - 125
JO - Environmental Health Perspectives
JF - Environmental Health Perspectives
IS - 9
M1 - 097023
ER -