Traffic air pollution linked to onset of COPD.

Andersen, ZJ, M Hvidberg, SS Jensen, M Ketzel, S Loft, M Sorensen, A Tjonneland, K Overvad and O Raaschou-Nielsen. 2010. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution: a cohort study. American Journal Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine http://dx.doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201006-0937OC.

People exposed for more than two and a half decades to high levels of air pollution created mainly by traffic are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), report researchers in the Netherlands who tracked more than 50,000 Danes during the study. Those who had diabetes and asthma were more susceptible to developing the disease.

This is the first report of the risk of long-term air pollution on the development of COPD. The results support findings from prior studies that link the two anecdotally and add more solid, clinical evidence that air pollution causes COPD.

COPD is a progressive lung disease. It is a leading cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide. Cigarette smoking causes the majority of COPD, but other job and environmental exposures are likely to cause the disease, too. Air pollution can exacerbate COPD symptoms in those who already have the disease, but whether air pollution causes COPD is not known.

In an attempt to find out, researchers followed people aged 50 - 64 years old for 35 years, beginning in 1993. They examined the date of first admission to a hospital for COPD. The scientists also estimated the levels of air pollution – nitrogen dioxides and nitrogen oxides – at the particpants' homes beginning in 1971. Of the more than 50,000 subjects, 3.4 percent developed COPD between 1993 and 2006.

Exposure for 25 and 35 years to high levels of nitrogen-based air pollution that is created by traffic was a significant risk factor for COPD, but exposure for 15 years was not. The risk for COPD was about seven percent higher in those exposed to high levels of air pollution for more than 25 years, even after adjusting for smoking and other risk factors. The impact of air pollution was greater in those who had asthma and diabetes.

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