Short-term Effects of Outdoor Air Pollution on Lung Function among Female Non-smokers in China

Short-term exposures to outdoor air pollutants have been associated with lower lung function, but the results are inconsistence. The effects of different pollutant levels on lung function changes are still unclear. We quantified the effects of outdoor air pollution exposure (NO₂, PM₁₀, O₃, and PM_2.5) on lung function among 1,694 female non-smokers from the Wuhan-Zhuhai Cohort in China by using linear mixed model. We further investigated the associations in the two cities with different air quality levels separately to quantify the effects of different pollutant level exposure on lung function. We found the moving averages of NO₂, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5 concentrations were significantly associated with reduced FVC. In city at high pollutant level, the moving average of NO₂, PM₁₀, O₃, and PM_2.5 exposures were significantly associated with both FVC and FEV₁ reductions. In the low-level air pollution city, PM₁₀ (Lag03-Lag05) and O₃ concentrations (Lag01-Lag03) were significantly associated with reduced FVC, while PM₁₀ (Lag03-Lag05), O₃ (Lag0-Lag03), and PM_2.5 (Lag04-Lag06) exposure were significantly associated with reduced FEV₁. Our results suggest that outdoor air pollution is associated with short-term adverse effects on lung function among female non-smokers. The adverse effects may persist for longer durations within 7 days at higher air pollutant levels.