Association of Ambient Air Pollution with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Incidence in Ten Large Chinese Cities, 2006–2013
Open Access
- 10 March 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Vol. 17 (6), 1824
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061824
Abstract
Large cities in China are experiencing severe ambient air pollution. Although China accounts for more than 45% of new cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma worldwide in 2018, few studies have examined the association between ambient air pollution and the high nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) incidence in China. Thus, we aim to investigate whether exposure to ambient air pollution (including nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and PM10) would significantly affect NPC incidence in large Chinese cities. We collected panel data of ten Chinese provincial cities about local NPC incidence, air pollution level, meteorology, and city profiles during 2006 to 2013 to construct a two-way fixed-effects model to explore the association between ambient air pollution and NPC incidence, as well as possible regional and gender differences behind the association. We found that NO2 had the strongest association with NPC incidence, and the relative risks were 2.2995 (95% CI, 1.2567–4.2075) for males and 1.3010 (95% CI, 0.8212–2.0620) for females, respectively. Under cumulative exposure, it was still NO2 that had the strongest association with NPC incidence, with a relative risk of 1.8836 (95% CI, 1.2416–2.8577), compared to 1.0857 (95% CI, 0.9474–1.2450) and 1.0547 (95% CI, 0.8790–1.2663) for SO2 and PM10, respectively. In addition, males were found more sensitive to ambient air pollution than females. We also found that southern Chinese cities were more sensitive to NO2 than northern cities, which might be related to a higher humidity there. Our study reveals that exposure to ambient air pollutants like SO2, PM10, and particularly NO2, is significantly positively associated with NPC incidence in China.Funding Information
- Beijing Social Science Fund (17JDGLB008, 17GLC043)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (71974011, 71804009, 71972012, 91746116, 71603018, 71471017, 71601020)
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Long-term exposure to NO2and PM10and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a prospective cohort of womenOccupational and Environmental Medicine, 2012
- Ambient Air Pollution Exposure and Respiratory, Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Mortality in Cape Town, South Africa: 2001–2006International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2012
- Traffic-Related Air Pollution and DNA Damage: A Longitudinal Study in Taiwanese Traffic ConductorsPLOS ONE, 2012
- Study on the Association between Ambient Air Pollution and Daily Cardiovascular and Respiratory Mortality in an Urban District of BeijingInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2011
- Air Pollution from Solid FuelsPublished by Elsevier BV ,2011
- Long-term associations of outdoor air pollution with mortality in Great BritainThorax, 2007
- Origin and Health Impacts of Emissions of Toxic By-Products and Fine Particles from Combustion and Thermal Treatment of Hazardous Wastes and MaterialsEnvironmental Health Perspectives, 2006
- Nitrous acid and nitrite in the atmosphereChemical Society Reviews, 1996
- Environmental and dietary risk factors for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a case-control study in Zangwu County, Guangxi, ChinaBritish Journal of Cancer, 1994
- Pulmonary disposition of inhaled NO2-nitrogen in isolated rat lungsToxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 1989