Associations of long-term exposure to air pollution and greenness with incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Northern Europe: The Life-GAP project.

Background: Prolonged exposure to air pollution has been linked to adverse respiratory health, yet the evidence concerning its association with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is inconsistent. The evidence of a greenness effect on chronic respiratory diseases is limited.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM and PM), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone (O) and greenness (as measured by the normalized difference vegetation index - NDVI) and incidence of self-reported chronic bronchitis or COPD (CB/COPD).

Gastroesophageal reflux and snoring are related to asthma and respiratory symptoms: Results from a Nordic longitudinal population survey.

Aim: To study if individuals with nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux (nGER) and habitual snoring are more likely to develop asthma and respiratory symptoms (i.e. wheeze, cough, chest tightness, breathlessness) than those without these conditions, and if these associations are additive.

Hexavalent chromium still a concern in Sweden - Evidence from a cross-sectional study within the SafeChrom project.

Objectives: Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is classified as a human carcinogen. Occupational Cr(VI) exposure can occur during different work processes, but the current exposure to Cr(VI) at Swedish workplaces is unknown.

Methods: This cross-sectional study (SafeChrom) recruited non-smoking men and women from 14 companies with potential Cr(VI) exposure (n = 113) and controls from 6 companies without Cr(VI) exposure (n = 72).

Long-term exposure to low-level air pollution and greenness and mortality in Northern Europe. The Life-GAP project.

Background: Air pollution has been linked to mortality, but there are few studies examining the association with different exposure time windows spanning across several decades. The evidence for the effects of green space and mortality is contradictory.

Objective: We investigated all-cause mortality in relation to exposure to particulate matter (PM and PM), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone (O) and greenness (normalized difference vegetation index - NDVI) across different exposure time windows.

Impact of long-term exposure to ambient ozone on lung function over a course of 20 years (The ECRHS study): a prospective cohort study in adults.

Background: While the adverse effects of short-term ambient ozone exposure on lung function are well-documented, the impact of long-term exposure remains poorly understood, especially in adults.

Methods: We aimed to investigate the association between long-term ozone exposure and lung function decline. The 3014 participants were drawn from 17 centers across eight countries, all of which were from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS).

Indoor Airborne Microbiome and Endotoxin: Meteorological Events and Occupant Characteristics Are Important Determinants.

Airborne bacteria and endotoxin may affect asthma and allergies. However, there is limited understanding of the environmental determinants that influence them. This study investigated the airborne microbiomes in the homes of 1038 participants from five cities in Northern Europe: Aarhus, Bergen, Reykjavik, Tartu, and Uppsala.

Traffic noise in the bedroom in association with markers of obesity: a cross-sectional study and mediation analysis of the respiratory health in Northern Europe cohort.

Background: Previous research suggests an association between road traffic noise and obesity, but current evidence is inconclusive. The aim of this study was to assess the association between nocturnal noise exposure and markers of obesity and to assess whether sleep disturbance might be a mediator in this association.

Methods: We applied data from the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) cohort.

Maternal and paternal tuberculosis is associated with increased asthma and respiratory symptoms in their offspring: a study from Northern Europe.

Background: Given the profound impact of tuberculosis (TB) on immunity and given murine studies suggesting that infections may influence immunity across generations, we hypothesize that parental TB might impact health and disease in future offspring.

Objective: This study investigated the impact of maternal and paternal TB on offspring asthma and respiratory symptoms.

Methods: We included data from the third follow-up of the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe study (RHINE).

Inflammatory bowel disease and asthma. Results from the RHINE study.

Background: Asthma and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are common inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of IBD with asthma and respiratory symptoms.

Methods: This study is based on 13,499 participants from seven northern European countries that filled in a postal questionnaire on asthma, respiratory symptoms, IBD including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and various lifestyle variables.

Previous tuberculosis infection associated with increased frequency of asthma and respiratory symptoms in a Nordic-Baltic multicentre population study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) infection induces profound local and systemic, immunological and inflammatory changes that could influence the development of other respiratory diseases; however, the association between TB and asthma is only partly understood. Our objective was to study the association of TB with asthma and respiratory symptoms in a Nordic-Baltic population-based study.

Methods: We included data from the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) study, in which information on general characteristics, TB infection, asthma and asthma-like symptoms were collected using standardised postal questionnaires.

Association between abdominal and general obesity and respiratory symptoms, asthma and COPD. Results from the RHINE study.

Introduction: Previous studies on the association between abdominal and general obesity and respiratory disease have provided conflicting results.

Aims And Objectives: We aimed to explore the associations of abdominal obesity with respiratory symptoms, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease independently from general obesity in women and men.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) III questionnaire (n = 12 290) conducted in 2010-2012.

Asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis in association with home environment - The RHINE study.

We studied home environment exposures in relation to asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis among offspring of participants (parents) in the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) study (age ≤ 30 y). Totally 17,881 offspring from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia were included. Home environment exposures, including dampness and mold, type of dwelling, construction year and indoor painting were registered through a questionnaire answered by parents in the first follow up (RHINE II).

Birch pollen, air pollution and their interactive effects on airway symptoms and peak expiratory flow in allergic asthma during pollen season - a panel study in Northern and Southern Sweden.

Background: Evidence of the role of interactions between air pollution and pollen exposure in subjects with allergic asthma is limited and need further exploration to promote adequate preventive measures. The objective of this study was to assess effects of exposure to ambient air pollution and birch pollen on exacerbation of respiratory symptoms in subjects with asthma and allergy to birch.

Methods: Thirty-seven subjects from two Swedish cities (Gothenburg and Umeå) with large variation in exposure to both birch-pollen and air pollutants, participated in the study.

Personal exposure levels to O, NO and PM and the association to ambient levels in two Swedish cities.

Exposure to air pollution is of great concern for public health although studies on the associations between exposure estimates and personal exposure are limited and somewhat inconsistent. The aim of this study was to quantify the associations between personal nitrogen oxides (NO), ozone (O) and particulate matter (PM) exposure levels and ambient levels, and the impact of climate and time spent outdoors in two cities in Sweden. Subjects (n = 65) from two Swedish cities participated in the study.

Socioeconomic position and outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO) exposure in Western Europe: A multi-city analysis.

Background: Inconsistent associations between socioeconomic position (SEP) and outdoor air pollution have been reported in Europe, but methodological differences prevent any direct between-study comparison.

Objectives: Assess and compare the association between SEP and outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO) exposure as a marker of traffic exhaust, in 16 cities from eight Western European countries.

Methods: Three SEP indicators, two defined at individual-level (education and occupation) and one at neighborhood-level (unemployment rate) were assessed in three European multicenter cohorts.

Associations Between Genome-wide Gene Expression and Ambient Nitrogen Oxides.

Background: We hypothesize that biological perturbations due to exposure to ambient air pollution are reflected in gene expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Methods: We assessed the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and genome-wide gene expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from 550 healthy subjects participating in cohorts from Italy and Sweden. Annual air pollution estimates of nitrogen oxides (NOx) at time of blood collection (1990-2006) were available from the ESCAPE study.

Father's environment before conception and asthma risk in his children: a multi-generation analysis of the Respiratory Health In Northern Europe study.

Background: Whereas it is generally accepted that maternal environment plays a key role in child health, emerging evidence suggests that paternal environment before conception also impacts child health. We aimed to investigate the association between children's asthma risk and parental smoking and welding exposures prior to conception.

Methods: In a longitudinal, multi-country study, parents of 24 168 offspring aged 2-51 years provided information on their life-course smoking habits, occupational exposure to welding and metal fumes, and offspring's asthma before/after age 10 years and hay fever.

Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Dementia Incidence in Northern Sweden: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: Exposure to ambient air pollution is suspected to cause cognitive effects, but a prospective cohort is needed to study exposure to air pollution at the home address and the incidence of dementia.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and dementia incidence in a major city in northern Sweden.

Methods: Data on dementia incidence over a 15-year period were obtained from the longitudinal Betula study.

Exposure to traffic and lung function in adults: a general population cohort study.

Objectives: To investigate the association between living near dense traffic and lung function in a cohort of adults from a single urban region.

Design: Cross-sectional results from a cohort study.

Setting: The adult-onset asthma and exhaled nitric oxide (ADONIX) cohort, sampled during 2001-2008 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Is there a threshold concentration of cat allergen exposure on respiratory symptoms in adults?

Background And Objective: Cat allergen concentrations higher than 8 μg/g in settled house dust, have been suggested to provoke exacerbation of allergic respiratory symptoms. However, whether the 8 μg/g of indoor cat allergen concentration is indeed the minimal exposure required for triggering the asthma related respiratory symptoms or the development of sensitization has not yet been confirmed. We studied the associations between domestic cat allergen concentrations and allergic symptoms in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II, with the aim of confirming this suggested threshold.

Inflammatory markers in relation to long-term air pollution.

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution can lead to chronic health effects such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Systemic inflammation has been hypothesized as a putative biological mechanism contributing to these adverse health effects. We evaluated the effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on blood markers of systemic inflammation.

Ambient air pollution and adult asthma incidence in six European cohorts (ESCAPE).

Background: Short-term exposure to air pollution has adverse effects among patients with asthma, but whether long-term exposure to air pollution is a cause of adult-onset asthma is unclear.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between air pollution and adult onset asthma.

Methods: Asthma incidence was prospectively assessed in six European cohorts.

Comparing land use regression and dispersion modelling to assess residential exposure to ambient air pollution for epidemiological studies.

Background: Land-use regression (LUR) and dispersion models (DM) are commonly used for estimating individual air pollution exposure in population studies. Few comparisons have however been made of the performance of these methods.

Objectives: Within the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE) we explored the differences between LUR and DM estimates for NO2, PM10 and PM2.

Interaction effects of long-term air pollution exposure and variants in the GSTP1, GSTT1 and GSTCD genes on risk of acute myocardial infarction and hypertension: a case-control study.

Introduction: Experimental and epidemiological studies have reported associations between air pollution exposure, in particular related to vehicle exhaust, and cardiovascular disease. A potential pathophysiological pathway is pollution-induced pulmonary oxidative stress, with secondary systemic inflammation. Genetic polymorphisms in genes implicated in oxidative stress, such as GSTP1, GSTT1 and GSTCD, may contribute to determining individual susceptibility to air pollution as a promoter of coronary vulnerability.

Performance of multi-city land use regression models for nitrogen dioxide and fine particles.

Background: Land use regression (LUR) models have been developed mostly to explain intraurban variations in air pollution based on often small local monitoring campaigns. Transferability of LUR models from city to city has been investigated, but little is known about the performance of models based on large numbers of monitoring sites covering a large area.

Objectives: We aimed to develop European and regional LUR models and to examine their transferability to areas not used for model development.