Dataset Information

Air pollution and individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status: evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although research has shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) and minority communities have higher exposure to air pollution, few studies have simultaneously investigated the associations of individual and neighborhood SES with pollutants across multiple sites.

Objectives

We characterized the distribution of ambient air pollution by both individual and neighborhood SES using spatial regression methods.

Methods

The study population comprised 6,140 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Year 2000 annual average ambient PM2.5 and NOx concentrations were calculated for each study participant's home address at baseline examination. We investigated individual and neighborhood (2000 U.S. Census tract level) SES measures corresponding to the domains of income, wealth, education, and occupation. We used a spatial intrinsic conditional autoregressive model for multivariable analysis and examined pooled and metropolitan area-specific models.

Results

A 1-unit increase in the z-score for family income was associated with 0.03-?g/m3 lower PM2.5 (95% CI: -0.05, -0.01) and 0.93% lower NOx (95% CI: -1.33, -0.53) after adjustment for covariates. A 1-SD-unit increase in the neighborhood's percentage of persons with at least a high school degree was associated with 0.47-?g/m3 lower mean PM2.5 (95% CI: -0.55, -0.40) and 9.61% lower NOx (95% CI: -10.85, -8.37). Metropolitan area-specific results exhibited considerable heterogeneity. For example, in New York, high-SES neighborhoods were associated with higher concentrations of pollution.

Conclusions

We found statistically significant associations of SES measures with predicted air pollutant concentrations, demonstrating the importance of accounting for neighborhood- and individual-level SES in air pollution health effects research.

SUBMITTER: Hajat A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3855503 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Air pollution and individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status: evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Hajat Anjum A Diez-Roux Ana V AV Adar Sara D SD Auchincloss Amy H AH Lovasi Gina S GS O'Neill Marie S MS Sheppard Lianne L Kaufman Joel D JD

Environmental health perspectives 20130927 11-12

<h4>Background</h4>Although research has shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) and minority communities have higher exposure to air pollution, few studies have simultaneously investigated the associations of individual and neighborhood SES with pollutants across multiple sites.<h4>Objectives</h4>We characterized the distribution of ambient air pollution by both individual and neighborhood SES using spatial regression methods.<h4>Methods</h4>The study population comprised 6,140 participants f ...[more]

PMID: 24076625

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Project description:BackgroundLong-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure is linked with cardiovascular disease, and disadvantaged status may increase susceptibility to air pollution-related health effects. In addition, there are concerns that this association may be partially explained by confounding by socioeconomic status (SES).ObjectivesWe examined the roles that individual- and neighborhood-level SES (NSES) play in the association between PM2.5 exposure and cardiovascular disease.MethodsThe study population comprised 51,754 postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. PM2.5 concentrations were predicted at participant residences using fine-scale regionalized universal kriging models. We assessed individual-level SES and NSES (Census-tract level) across several SES domains including education, occupation, and income/wealth, as well as through an NSES score, which captures several important dimensions of SES. Cox proportional-hazards regression adjusted for SES factors and other covariates to determine the risk of a first cardiovascular event.ResultsA 5 ?g/m3 higher exposure to PM2.5 was associated with a 13% increased risk of cardiovascular event [hazard ratio (HR) 1.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02, 1.26]. Adjustment for SES factors did not meaningfully affect the risk estimate. Higher risk estimates were observed among participants living in low-SES neighborhoods. The most and least disadvantaged quartiles of the NSES score had HRs of 1.39 (95% CI: 1.21, 1.61) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.72, 1.07), respectively.ConclusionsWomen with lower NSES may be more susceptible to air pollution-related health effects. The association between air pollution and cardiovascular disease was not explained by confounding from individual-level SES or NSES. Citation: Chi GC, Hajat A, Bird CE, Cullen MR, Griffin BA, Miller KA, Shih RA, Stefanick ML, Vedal S, Whitsel EA, Kaufman JD. 2016. Individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status and the association between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. Environ Health Perspect 124:1840-1847;?http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP199.

Project description:DNA methylation may mediate effects of air pollution on cardiovascular disease. The association between long-term air pollution exposure and DNA methylation in monocytes, which are central to atherosclerosis, has not been studied. We investigated the association between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and DNA methylation (candidate sites and global) in monocytes of adults (aged ?55).One-year average ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) concentrations were predicted at participants' (n?=?1,207) addresses using spatiotemporal models. We assessed DNA methylation in circulating monocytes at 1) 2,713 CpG sites associated with mRNA expression of nearby genes and 2) probes mapping to Alu and LINE-1 repetitive elements (surrogates for global DNA methylation) using Illumina's Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. We used linear regression models adjusted for demographics, smoking, physical activity, socioeconomic status, methyl-nutrients, and technical variables. For significant air pollution-associated methylation sites, we also assessed the association between expression of gene transcripts previously associated with these CpG sites and air pollution.At a false discovery rate of 0.05, five candidate CpGs (cg20455854, cg07855639, cg07598385, cg17360854, and cg23599683) had methylation significantly associated with PM2.5 and none were associated with NOX. Cg20455854 had the smallest p-value for the association with PM2.5 (p?=?2.77?×?10-5). mRNA expression profiles of genes near three of the PM2.5-associated CpGs (ANKHD1, LGALS2, and ANKRD11) were also significantly associated with PM2.5 exposure. Alu and LINE-1 methylation were not associated with long-term air pollution exposure.We observed novel associations between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and site-specific DNA methylation, but not global DNA methylation, in purified monocytes of a multi-ethnic adult population. Epigenetic markers may provide insights into mechanisms underlying environmental factors in complex diseases like atherosclerosis.

Dataset Information

Air pollution and individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status: evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Air pollution and individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status: evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

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