Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Fine Particulate Matter and Renal Function in Older Men: The Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study

Abstract

It is unknown if ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with lower renal function, a cardiovascular risk factor. We investigated whether long-term PM2.5 exposure was associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in a cohort of older men living in the Boston Metropolitan area. This longitudinal analysis included 669 participants from the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study with up to four visits between 2000 and 2011 (n = 1,715 visits). Serum creatinine was measured at each visit, and eGFR was calculated according to the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. One-year exposure to PM2.5 prior to each visit was assessed using a validated spatiotemporal model that utilized satellite remote-sensing aerosol optical depth data. eGFR was modeled in a time-varying linear mixed-effects regression model as a continuous function of 1-year PM2.5, adjusting for important covariates. One-year PM2.5 exposure was associated with lower eGFRs; a 2.1-μg/m3 interquartile range higher 1-year PM2.5 was associated with a 1.87 mL/min/1.73 m2 lower eGFR [95% confidence interval (CI): -2.99, -0.76]. A 2.1 μg/m3-higher 1-year PM2.5 was also associated with an additional annual decrease in eGFR of 0.60 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year (95% CI: -0.79, -0.40). In this longitudinal sample of older men, the findings supported the hypothesis that long-term PM2.5 exposure negatively affects renal function and increases renal function decline. Mehta AJ, Zanobetti A, Bind MC, Kloog I, Koutrakis P, Sparrow D, Vokonas PS, Schwartz JD. 2016. Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and renal function in older men: the VA Normative Aging Study. Environ Health Perspect 124:1353-1360; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510269.