Long-term ambient PM10concentrations and incidence of emphysema in California adults: results from the AHSMOG study

In this paper, we evaluate the relationship between long-term concentrations of particulate matter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10) and risk of emphysema in California adults. A cohort of 6338 non-Hispanic, white Californian adults, ages 27–95, was followed from 1977 to 2000 for various chronic disease outcomes including physician diagnosed emphysema. Monthly ambient air pollution data were interpolated to zip code centroids according to home and work location histories and averaged over time. Results showed a significant association between mean concentration of PM10 and incidence of emphysema in females with an OR of 1.37 (95% CI: 1.11–1.69) for each increase of 10 μg/m3 in mean PM10. In addition, we observed significant associations between incidence of emphysema and each 40-day increment of ambient PM10 levels in excess of 40, 60, 80 and 100 μg/m3 in females. Our findings suggest that chronic exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with development of emphysema in females.