Long-Term Exposure To Traffic Related Air Pollution Is Associated With An Increased Risk Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Background Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with several neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. The association with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has not been studied before. Methods We assessed long-term exposure to multiple air pollutants and the risk of developing ALS in a large population-based case-control study in The Netherlands (917 cases and 2662 individually matched controls recruited between 2006 and 2013). Residential annual mean air pollution concentrations, averaged over the period 1992 to enrolment, were assessed by land use regression (LUR) models developed as part of the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). Exposure estimates included nitrogen oxides (NO2 and NOx), particulate matter (PM) with diameters of less than 2·5 μm (PM2·5), less than 10 μm (PM10), and between 10 μm and 2·5 μm (PMcoarse), and PM2·5absorbance (a marker for black carbon or soot). We performed conditional logistic regression analysis by quartiles of e...