Association between air pollution and rhinitis incidence in two European cohorts

• Published in: Environment international Vol. 115; pp. 257 - 266
• Main Authors: Burte, Emilie, Leynaert, Bénédicte, Bono, Roberto, Brunekreef, Bert, Bousquet, Jean, Carsin, Anne-Elie, De Hoogh, Kees, Forsberg, Bertil, Gormand, Frédéric, Heinrich, Joachim, Just, Jocelyne, Marcon, Alessandro, Künzli, Nino, Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark, Pin, Isabelle, Stempfelet, Morgane, Sunyer, Jordi, Villani, Simona, Siroux, Valérie, Jarvis, Deborah, Nadif, Rachel, Jacquemin, Bénédicte
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air Pollution - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Incidence; Life Sciences; Retrospective Studies; Rhinitis - epidemiology; Santé publique et épidémiologie
• ISSN: 0160-4120; 1873-6750; 1873-6750
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.03.021

The association between air pollution and rhinitis is not well established. The aim of this longitudinal analysis was to study the association between modeled air pollution at the subjects' home addresses and self-reported incidence of rhinitis. We used data from 1533 adults from two multicentre cohorts' studies (EGEA and ECRHS). Rhinitis incidence was defined as reporting rhinitis at the second follow-up (2011 to 2013) but not at the first follow-up (2000 to 2007). Annual exposure to NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 at the participants' home addresses was estimated using land-use regression models developed by the ESCAPE project for the 2009–2010 period. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were computed using Poisson regression. Pooled analysis, analyses by city and meta-regression testing for heterogeneity were carried out. No association between long-term air pollution exposure and incidence of rhinitis was found (adjusted IRR (aIRR) for an increase of 10 μg·m−3 of NO2: 1.00 [0.91–1.09], for an increase of 5 μg·m−3 of PM2.5: 0.88 [0.73–1.04]). Similar results were found in the two-pollutant model (aIRR for an increase of 10 μg·m−3 of NO2: 1.01 [0.87–1.17], for an increase of 5 μg·m−3 of PM2.5: 0.87 [0.68–1.08]). Results differed depending on the city, but no regional pattern emerged for any of the pollutants. This study did not find any consistent evidence of an association between long-term air pollution and incident rhinitis. •Rhinitis is an important and prevalent public health issue.•No studies have assessed the effect of outdoor air pollution on rhinitis incidence in adults.•Long-term exposure to NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 was not associated with incident rhinitis.•Our results differed across cities.