Relationship between fine particulate air pollution exposure and human adult life expectancy in Taiwan

Among the air pollutants, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 um (PM_2.5) is of particular interest to environmental medicine as epidemiologic studies consistently reported that long-term exposure to PM_2.5 is associated with increased risk of premature death in adults. Life expectancy is a well-documented and important measure of overall public health policy. However, few investigators examined the relationship between PM_2.5 levels and adult life expectancy. In this Taiwan-wide study, county-level annual mean PM_2.5 concentrations data were collected concomitantly with potential confounding variables including demographic and socioeconomic status, as well as smoking prevalence. Subsequently, these PM_2.5 data were analyzed with respect to county-level adult life expectancy data for the period 2010 to 2017. Linear regression was used to determine the relationship between PM_2.5 and life expectancy in adults. Residents residing in the counties characterized as containing higher levels of PM_2.5 exhibited significantly reduced life expectancy after controlling for potential confounders. For each 10 ug/m³ increase in PM_2.5 there was an estimated mean decrease in life expectancy in adults of 0.3 years. The results of this study shed light on the relationship between fine particulate air pollution exposure and risk to human health in Taiwan.