Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Parkinson's Disease in Denmark: A Case-Control Study

Very little is currently known about air pollutants' adverse effects on neurodegenerative diseases even though recent studies have linked particulate exposures to brain pathologies associated with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

In the present study, we investigated long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and Parkinson's disease.

In a case-control study of 1,696 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients identified from Danish hospital registries and diagnosed 1996-2009 and 1,800 population controls matched by sex and year of birth, we assessed long-term traffic-related air pollutant exposures (represented by nitrogen dioxide; NO2) from a dispersion model, using residential addresses from 1971 to the date of diagnosis or first cardinal symptom for cases and the corresponding index date for their matched controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated with logistic regression, adjusting for matching factors and potential confounders.

We found ambient air pollution from traffic sources to be associated with risk of PD, with a 9% higher risk (95% CI: 3, 16.0%) per interquartile range increase (2.97 μg/m(3)) in modeled NO2. For participants living for ≥ 20 years in the capital city, ORs were larger (OR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.31) than in provincial towns (OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.26), whereas there was no association among rural residents.

Our findings raise concerns about potential effects of air pollution from traffic and other sources on the risk of PD, particularly in populations with high or increasing exposures.