Associations between Ambient Air Pollution Exposure, Lung Function and COPD: Results from the UK Biobank Cohort

IntroductionAmbient air pollution increases the risk of respiratory mortality but evidence for impacts on lung function and obstructive lung disease is less well established.MethodsModeled ambient particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10 and PMcoarse) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were linked to residential addresses of 242 159 UK Biobank Cohort participants. Cross-sectional analyses were performed to examine the relationship between air pollutant concentrations and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and COPD (FEV1/FVC < lower limit of normal), controlling for relevant confounding factors. Stratified analyses were performed for sex, age, obesity, smoking status, household income, ‘ever had asthma’ status, and occupation associated with increased COPD risk.ResultsMean annual PM2.5 and NO2 exposures were 9.92 µg/m3 (SD: 1.04) and 26.23 µg/m3 (SD: 7.54), respectively. NO2 concentrations were highly correlated with PM2.5 (r=0.87), but less so with o...