Ambient Air Pollution and Chronic Bronchitis in a Cohort of U.S. Women

Limited evidence links air pollution exposure to chronic cough and sputum production. Few reports have investigated the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and classically defined chronic bronchitis.

Our objective was to estimate the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter (diameter <10 microm, PM₁₀; <2.5microm, PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and both incident and prevalent chronic bronchitis.

We estimated annual average PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and NO₂ concentrations using a national land-use regression model with spatial smoothing at home addresses of participants in a prospective nationwide U.S. cohort study of sisters of women with breast cancer. Incident chronic bronchitis and prevalent chronic bronchitis, cough and phlegm, were assessed by questionnaires.

Among 47,357 individuals with complete data, 1,383 had prevalent chronic bronchitis at baseline, and 647 incident cases occurred over 5.7-y average follow-up. No associations with incident chronic bronchitis were observed. Prevalent chronic bronchitis was associated with PM₁₀ [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) per interquartile range (IQR) difference (5.8microg/m³)=1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.13]. In never-smokers, PM_2.5 was associated with prevalent chronic bronchitis (aOR=1.18 per IQR difference; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.34), and _NO2 was associated with prevalent chronic bronchitis (aOR=1.10; 95% CI=1.01, 1.20), cough (aOR=1.10; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.16), and phlegm (aOR=1.07; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.14); interaction p-values (nonsmokers vs. smokers) <0.05.

PM₁₀ exposure was related to chronic bronchitis prevalence. Among never-smokers, PM_2.5 and NO₂ exposure was associated with chronic bronchitis and component symptoms. Results may have policy ramifications for PM₁₀ regulation by providing evidence for respiratory health effects related to long-term PM₁₀ exposure. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2199.