Ultrafine particles (UFP), commonly expressed as particle number concentrations (PNC), have been associated with harm to human health yet are currently not regulated or routinely monitored in many places. This has limited the potential for studies of health effects of long-term exposure to UFP. The present study aims to understand the spatial and temporal variation in façade-level UFP exposures in Copenhagen, Denmark.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Long-term exposure to road traffic noise is associated with cardiovascular disease, but the evidence on respiratory diseases is just emerging. We aimed to examine the association between long-term exposure to road traffic noise and the incidence of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) in adults.
Methods: We followed 23,141 female nurses (age ≥ 44 years) from the Danish Nurse Cohort from baseline (1993 or 1999) to their first hospital contact (inpatient, outpatient, or emergency room) for ALRI, death, emigration or the end of 2015.
Introduction: We examined the association of long-term exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise with dementia incidence in the Danish Nurse Cohort.
Methods: Female nurses were followed for dementia incidence (hospital contact or medication prescription) from 1993/1999 to 2020. Air pollution and road traffic noise levels were estimated at nurses' residences, and their associations with dementia were examined using Cox regression models.
Air pollution is a major risk factor for chronic cardiorespiratory diseases, affecting the immune and respiratory systems' functionality, but epidemiological evidence in respiratory infections remains sparse. We aimed to assess the association of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution with the risk of developing new and recurrent acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs), characterized by persistently severe symptoms necessitating hospital contact, and identify the potential susceptible populations by socioeconomic status, smoking, physical activity status, overweight, and comorbidity with chronic lung disease. We followed 23,912 female nurses from the Danish Nurse Cohort (age >44 yr) from baseline (1993 or 1999) until 2018 for incident and recurrent ALRIs defined by hospital contact (inpatient, outpatient, and emergency room) data from the National Patient Register.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUltrafine particles (UFPs) are airborne particles with a diameter of less than 100 nm. They are emitted from various sources, such as traffic, combustion, and industrial processes, and can have adverse effects on human health. Long-term mean ambient average particle size (APS) in the UFP range varies over space within cities, with locations near UFP sources having typically smaller APS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent research suggests a link between air pollution and cognitive development in children, and studies on air pollution and academic achievement are emerging. We conducted a nationwide cohort study in Denmark to explore the associations between lifetime exposure to air pollution and academic performance in 9th grade. The study encompassed 785,312 children born in Denmark between 1989 and 2005, all of whom completed 9th-grade exit examinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To explore the associations of long-term exposure to air pollution with onset of all human health conditions.
Design: Prospective phenome-wide association study.
Setting: Denmark.
Background: The burden of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) is high in childhood. Several residential exposures may affect relative rates.
Objectives: To determine risk of RTIs in children ages 11 and 12 by residential exposures.
Background And Aims: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) aggregates in families and offspring with parental CVD may have adverse risk factor levels long time before the potential onset of CVD. We compared risk factor levels in offspring of parents with atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) and parents with no ASCVD at different parental ages at onset.
Methods: The study included 5751 participants (median age: 50 years) of the Diet, Cancer and Health - Next Generations study.
Air pollution causes premature mortality and increased morbidity in Denmark as well as worldwide. This review investigates how the climate changes contribute to these through e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeatwaves are getting more common and is the largest weather-related cause of death in high-income countries. A summary of some of the implications is given in this review. Most of the excess mortality is preventable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Many residential indoor environments may have an impact on children's respiratory health.
Objectives: The aims of this study were to identify latent classes of children from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) who share similar patterns of exposure to indoor home characteristics, and to examine the association between membership in the latent classes and asthma in adolescence.
Methods: We included data on residential indoor characteristics of offspring from the DNBC whose mothers had responded to the child's 11-year follow-up and who had data on asthma from the 18-year follow-up.
Ultrafine particles (UFP; particulate matter <0.1 μm in diameter) may be more harmful to human health than larger particles, but epidemiological evidence on their health effects is still limited. In this study, we examined the association between short-term exposure to UFP and mortality and hospital admissions in Copenhagen, Denmark.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPaediatr Respir Rev
December 2023
Background: Multiple reviews have been conducted on the associations between residential mold and dampness and respiratory outcomes in children, with few specifically investigating respiratory tract infections (RTIs).
Objective: We aimed to review and synthesize the available epidemiological literature on mold and dampness and risk of RTIs and respiratory symptoms compatible with RTIs in children living in high-income countries.
Method: We performed a systematic search of literature available from MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science for observational studies.
Part Fibre Toxicol
July 2023
Background: There is insufficient knowledge about the systemic health effects of exposure to fine (PM) and ultrafine particles emitted from typical indoor sources, including cooking and candlelight burning. We examined whether short-term exposure to emissions from cooking and burning candles cause inflammatory changes in young individuals with mild asthma. Thirty-six non-smoking asthmatics participated in a randomized controlled double-blind crossover study attending three exposure sessions (mean PM µg/m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ng/m): (a) air mixed with emissions from cooking (96.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Early ecological studies have suggested links between air pollution and risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but evidence from individual-level cohort studies is still sparse. We examined whether long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with risk of COVID-19 and who is most susceptible.
Methods: We followed 3 721 810 Danish residents aged ≥30 years on 1 March 2020 in the National COVID-19 Surveillance System until the date of first positive test (incidence), COVID-19 hospitalisation or death until 26 April 2021.
Background: Ambient air pollution exposure has been associated with childhood asthma, but previous studies have primarily focused on prevalence of asthma and asthma-related outcomes and urban traffic-related exposures.
Objective: We examined nationwide associations between pre- and postnatal exposure to ambient air pollution components and asthma incidence in children age 0-19 y.
Methods: Asthma incidence was identified from hospital admission, emergency room, and outpatient contacts among all live-born singletons born in Denmark between 1998 and 2016.
Objective: To quantify the number of avoidable annual deaths and associated economic benefits from meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines for ambient concentrations for fine particulate matter (PM) for Member States of the WHO Western Pacific Region.
Methods: Using the AirQ+ software, we performed a quantitative health impact assessment comparing country-level PM concentrations with the 2005 and 2021 air quality guidelines recommended maximum concentrations of 10 and 5 μg/m, respectively. We obtained PM data from the WHO Global Health Observatory (latest available year 2016), and population and mortality estimates from the United Nations World Population Prospects database for the latest 5-year period available (2015-2019), which we averaged to 1-year estimates.
Burning candles at home emit small particles and gases that pollute indoor air. Exposure to fine particles in outdoor air has been convincingly linked to cardiovascular and respiratory events, while the associations with fine and ultrafine particles from candle burning remain unexplored. We examined the association between the use of candles and incident cardiovascular and respiratory events.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 containment response policies (CRPs) had a major impact on air quality (AQ). These CRPs have been time-varying and location-specific. So far, despite having numerous studies on the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on AQ, a knowledge gap remains on the association between stringency of CRPs and AQ changes across the world, regions, nations, and cities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The association between long-term exposure to air pollution and mortality from cardiorespiratory diseases is well established, yet the evidence for other diseases remains limited.
Objectives: To examine the associations of long-term exposure to air pollution with mortality from diabetes, dementia, psychiatric disorders, chronic kidney disease (CKD), asthma, acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI), as well as mortality from all-natural and cardiorespiratory causes in the Danish nationwide administrative cohort.
Methods: We followed all residents aged ≥ 30 years (3,083,227) in Denmark from 1 January 2000 until 31 December 2017.