Air pollution and bone health outcomes: Periods of susceptibility from pregnancy to childhood

IF 9.7 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environment International Pub Date : 2025-09-01 DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109739

Lieke E.J.M. Scheepers , Anne-Claire Binter , Susana Santos , Sami Petricola , Fernando Rivadeneira , Vincent W.V. Jaddoe , Mònica Guxens , Fay H. Johnston

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Early life exposure to environmental factors can impact skeletal development. We aimed to identify periods of susceptibility to air pollution in early life in relation to bone health outcomes at age six.

Methods

Data were from the Generation R study, a population-based pregnancy cohort study, The Netherlands. We estimated daily concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5 and PM2.5 absorbance) at the home addresses during pregnancy and childhood, using land-use regression models. Bone mineral density and area-adjusted bone mineral content were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at age six. We performed distributed lag modelling (DLM) adjusted for several socioeconomic characteristics to assess the associations between bone health and air pollution, using 28-day averaged exposure levels, and identify windows of susceptibility.

Results

Among 5966 children, we identified windows of susceptibility from ∼ 1 to ∼ 4 years of age for PM2.5 and PM2.5 absorbance with bone mineral density (e.g., −10.3; 95 % CI −15.8 to −4.7 per 5 µg/m³ increase in PM2.5) and for all air pollutants with bone mineral content (e.g., −14.6; 95 % CI −20.7 to −8.4 per 5 µg/m³ increase in PM2.5). Also, we identified an association between NO2 and PM2.5 absorbance during pregnancy and higher bone mineral content (e.g., 4.0; 95 % CI 1.4 to 6.6 per 10^-5 m⁻¹ increase in PM2.5 absorbance). In the sex-stratified analyses, associations across all exposures and outcome measures were in the same direction for both sexes, and similar to the main analyses, but statistically significance was observed only in boys.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that exposure to air pollutants during childhood may already lead to poorer bone health outcomes.

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空气污染和骨骼健康结果：从怀孕到童年的易感期

长期暴露于环境因素会影响骨骼发育。我们的目的是确定生命早期易受空气污染的时期与6岁时骨骼健康结果的关系。方法数据来自荷兰的R世代研究，这是一项基于人群的妊娠队列研究。我们使用土地利用回归模型估算了怀孕和童年期间家庭住址的每日二氧化氮（NO2）和颗粒物（PM10、PM2.5和PM2.5吸光度）浓度。6岁时用双能x线骨密度仪测定骨密度和面积调整骨矿物质含量。我们采用分布式滞后模型（DLM）对若干社会经济特征进行了调整，以评估骨骼健康与空气污染之间的关系，使用28天平均暴露水平，并确定易感窗口。结果在5966名儿童中，我们确定了1至4岁之间PM2.5和PM2.5吸收与骨密度的敏感性窗口（例如，每5µg/m3 PM2.5增加- 10.3;95% CI - 15.8至- 4.7）以及所有具有骨矿物质含量的空气污染物（例如，每5µg/m3 PM2.5增加- 14.6;95% CI - 20.7至- 8.4）。此外，我们还确定了怀孕期间二氧化氮和PM2.5吸光度与较高骨矿物质含量之间的关联（例如，PM2.5吸光度每增加10-5 m−1,95% CI为1.4至6.6）。在性别分层分析中，所有暴露和结果测量的关联在两性中都是相同的方向，与主要分析相似，但仅在男孩中观察到统计学意义。结论：研究结果表明，儿童时期接触空气污染物可能已经导致骨骼健康状况较差。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environment International 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

21.90

自引率

3.40%

发文量

734

审稿时长

2.8 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Health publishes manuscripts focusing on critical aspects of environmental and occupational medicine, including studies in toxicology and epidemiology, to illuminate the human health implications of exposure to environmental hazards. The journal adopts an open-access model and practices open peer review. It caters to scientists and practitioners across all environmental science domains, directly or indirectly impacting human health and well-being. With a commitment to enhancing the prevention of environmentally-related health risks, Environmental Health serves as a public health journal for the community and scientists engaged in matters of public health significance concerning the environment.