Excess deaths and loss of life expectancy attributed to long-term NO2 exposure in the Chinese elderly.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf
; 281: 116627, 2024 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38925032
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Evidence linking nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution to life span of high-vulnerability older adults is extensively scarce in low- and middle-income countries. This study seeks to quantify mortality risk, excess deaths, and loss of life expectancy (LLE) associated with long-term exposure to NO2 among elderly individuals in China.METHODS:
A nationwide dynamic cohort of 20352 respondents ≥65 years old were enrolled from the China Longitudinal Health and Longevity Survey during 2005-2018. Residential exposures to NO2 and co-pollutants were assessed by well-validated spatiotemporal prediction models. A Cox regression model with time-dependent covariates was utilized to quantify the association of all-cause mortality with NO2 exposure, controlling for confounders such as demographics, lifestyle, health status, and ambient temperature. NO2-attributable deaths and LLE were evaluated for the years 2010 and 2020 based on the pooled NO2-mortality relation derived from multi-national cohort investigations. Decomposition analyses were conducted to dissociate net shift in NO2-related deaths between 2010 and 2020 into four primary contributing factors.RESULTS:
A total of 14313 deaths were recorded during follow-up of approximately 100 hundred person-years (median 3.6 years). We observed an approximately linear relationship (nonlinear P = 0.882) of NO2 exposure with all-cause death across a broad range from 6.6 to 95.7⯵g/m3. Every 10-µg/m3 rise in yearly average NO2 concentration was linked to a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.045 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.031-1.059). In the updated meta-analysis of this study and 9 existing cohorts, we estimated a pooled HR of 1.043 (95% CI 1.023-1.063) for each 10-µg/m3 growth in NO2. Reaching a 10-µg/m3 counterfactual target of NO2 concentration in China could avoid 0.33 (95% empirical CI 0.19-0.49) million premature deaths and an LLE of 0.40 (95% empirical CI 0.23-0.59) years in 2010, which greatly dropped to 0.24 (95% empirical CI 0.14-0.36) million deaths and 0.21 (95% empirical CI 0.12-0.31) years of LLE in 2020. The net fall in NO2-attributable deaths (-26.8%) between 2010 and 2020 was primarily driven by the declines in both NO2 concentration (-41.6%) and mortality rate (-27.1%) under population growth (+41.0%) and age structure transition (+0.9%).CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings provide national evidence for increased risk of premature death and loss of life expectancy attributed to later-life NO2 exposure among the elderly in China. In an accelerated aging society, strengthened clean air actions should be formulated to minimize the health burden and regional inequality in NO2-attributable mortality.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Esperanza de Vida
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Contaminantes Atmosféricos
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Exposición a Riesgos Ambientales
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Dióxido de Nitrógeno
Límite:
Aged
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Aged80
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Female
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Humans
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Male
País/Región como asunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos