Fine Particle Exposure and Clinical Aggravation in Neurodegenerative Diseases in New York State
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 18, 2025
Technique for Intranasal Administration of α-Synuclein Aggregates
Published on: November 8, 2024
Yanelli Nunez1, Amelia K Boehme2, Marc G Weisskopf3
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA.
Background:
Adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases affect millions and negatively impact health care systems worldwide. Evidence suggests that air pollution may contribute to aggravation of neurodegeneration, but studies have been limited.
Objective:
We examined the potential association between long-term exposure to particulate matter in aerodynamic diameter [fine particulate matter ()] and disease aggravation in Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD) diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), using first hospitalization as a surrogate of clinical aggravation.
Methods:
We used data from the New York Department of Health Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS 2000-2014) to construct annual county counts of first hospitalizations with a diagnosis of AD, PD, or ALS (total, urbanicity-, sex-, and age-stratified). We used annual concentrations estimated by a prediction model at a resolution, which we aggregated to population-weighted county averages to assign exposure to cases based on county of residence. We used outcome-specific mixed quasi-Poisson models with county-specific random intercepts to estimate rate ratios (RRs) for a 1-y exposure. We allowed for nonlinear exposure-outcome relationships using penalized splines and accounted for potential confounders.
Results:
We found a positive nonlinear association that plateaued above (, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.14 for a increase from 8.1 to ). We also found a linear positive association (, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.09 per increase), and suggestive evidence of an association with AD. We found effect modification by age for PD and ALS with a stronger positive association in patients of age but found insufficient evidence of effect modification by sex or urbanization level for any of the outcomes.
Conclusion:
Our findings suggest that annual increase in county-level concentrations may contribute to clinical aggravation of PD and ALS. Importantly, the average annual concentration in our study was , below the current American national standards, suggesting the standards may not adequately protect the aging population. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7425.
