Associations of long-term exposure to PM
7 affiliations
- 1State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Eye Institute of Shandong First Medical University, Qingdao 266071, China; School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250000, China; Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University (Shandong Eye Hospital), Jinan, China
- 2School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
- 3State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Eye Institute of Shandong First Medical University, Qingdao 266071, China; Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University (Shandong Eye Hospital), Jinan, China
- 4State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Eye Institute of Shandong First Medical University, Qingdao 266071, China; Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University (Shandong Eye Hospital), Jinan, China; School of Ophthalmology, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250000, China
- 5Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, China; Affiliated Eye Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250001, China
- 6State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Eye Institute of Shandong First Medical University, Qingdao 266071, China; School of Ophthalmology, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250000, China
- 7School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Corresponding author at: School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Abstract
Background: Visual impairment among children and adolescents is a major public health concern. However, evidence regarding the associations of PM 2.5 and its chemical constituents with incident visual impairment remains limited, particularly in highly polluted regions. We aimed to investigate these associations in northern China. Methods: This study included 12,433,993 school students from a dynamic cohort in Shandong Province, China, followed from 2012 to 2024. Annual concentrations of PM 2.5 and its five major chemical constituents were estimated using data from the Tracking Air Pollution in China database. Visual impairment was defined as visual acuity below 4.9 in either eye. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations, with penalized splines characterizing exposure–response relationships. Quantile g-computation assessed the joint association of the five constituents. Results: During 35,156,004 person-years of follow-up, 8,036,370 participants (64.6%) developed visual impairment. Each IQR increase in PM 2.5 concentration was associated with a 58% higher risk of incident visual impairment ( HR , 1.58; 95% CI , 1.53–1.63), while the five constituents were also positively associated with incident visual impairment ( HR s: 1.53–1.57). PM 2.5 and all five chemical constituents showed predominantly non-threshold linear or supra-linear exposure–response relationships. A simultaneous one-quartile increase in all five constituents was associated with a 26% higher risk of incident visual impairment ( HR , 1.26; 95% CI, 1.24–1.28). Stronger associations were consistently observed among students in higher grades. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence of the adverse associations of PM 2.5 and its chemical constituents with visual impairment risk and emphasize the need for more rigorous regulations targeting these pollutants in China.
Related
- Associations between long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation and site-specific cancer incidence: an ecological study in China between 2006 and 2016
- Associations of short-term exposure to multiple air pollutants with hospital admissions for ischemic stroke in Lanzhou, China
- Associations between short-term PM2.5 exposure and major cardiovascular events in high-risk population: a nationwide case-crossover study.
- Long-term ambient benzene exposure increases incident NAFLD risk through accelerated biological aging
- Association between long-term air quality index exposure and multidimensional study-defined cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older adults
BibTeX
@article{li2026associations,
title = {{Associations of long-term exposure to PM}},
author = {Shanshan Li and Xia Meng and Xinhai Wang and Yixuan Jiang and Qingdong Bao and Yichen Liu and Xiao Lin and Xianli Du and Ju Zhang and Jianying Ma and Mingna Liu and Lixin Xie and Haidong Kan and Hua Gao},
journal = {Environment International},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.envint.2026.110513},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110513},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Associations of long-term exposure to PM
AU - Shanshan Li
AU - Xia Meng
AU - Xinhai Wang
AU - Yixuan Jiang
AU - Qingdong Bao
AU - Yichen Liu
AU - Xiao Lin
AU - Xianli Du
AU - Ju Zhang
AU - Jianying Ma
AU - Mingna Liu
AU - Lixin Xie
AU - Haidong Kan
AU - Hua Gao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
JO - Environment International
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2026.110513
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110513
AB - Background: Visual impairment among children and adolescents is a major public health concern. However, evidence regarding the associations of PM 2.5 and its chemical constituents with incident visual impairment remains limited, particularly in highly polluted regions. We aimed to investigate these associations in northern China. Methods: This study included 12,433,993 school students from a dynamic cohort in Shandong Province, China, followed from 2012 to 2024. Annual concentrations of PM 2.5 and its five major chemical constituents were estimated using data from the Tracking Air Pollution in China database. Visual impairment was defined as visual acuity below 4.9 in either eye. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations, with penalized splines characterizing exposure–response relationships. Quantile g-computation assessed the joint association of the five constituents. Results: During 35,156,004 person-years of follow-up, 8,036,370 participants (64.6%) developed visual impairment. Each IQR increase in PM 2.5 concentration was associated with a 58% higher risk of incident visual impairment ( HR , 1.58; 95% CI , 1.53–1.63), while the five constituents were also positively associated with incident visual impairment ( HR s: 1.53–1.57). PM 2.5 and all five chemical constituents showed predominantly non-threshold linear or supra-linear exposure–response relationships. A simultaneous one-quartile increase in all five constituents was associated with a 26% higher risk of incident visual impairment ( HR , 1.26; 95% CI, 1.24–1.28). Stronger associations were consistently observed among students in higher grades. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence of the adverse associations of PM 2.5 and its chemical constituents with visual impairment risk and emphasize the need for more rigorous regulations targeting these pollutants in China.
SN - 0160-4120
ER -