Short-term and intermediate-term fine particulate air pollution are synergistically associated with habitual sleep...

Both air pollution and poor sleep have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between air pollution and sleep health, especially among adolescents, is rarely investigated.

To investigate the association between fine particulate (PM_2.5) air pollution and habitual sleep patterns, we analyzed data obtained from 246 adolescents who participated in the Penn State Child Cohort follow-up examination. We collected their individual-level 24-h (short-term) PM_2.5 concentration by using a portable monitor. We estimated their residential-level PM_2.5 concentration during the 60-day period prior to the examination (intermediate-term) using a kriging approach. Actigraphy was used to measure participants' sleep durations for seven consecutive nights. Habitual sleep duration (HSD) and sleep variability (HSV) were calculated as the mean and SD of the seven-night sleep duration. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression models were used to assess the association between PM_2.5 exposures and HSD/HSV. An interaction between short-term and intermediate-term PM_2.5 was created to explore their synergistic associations with HSD/HSV.

Elevated short-term and intermediate-term PM_2.5 exposure were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with higher HSV, but not HSD. Specifically, the mean (95% CI) increase in HSV associated with 1 SD higher 24-h (26.3 μg/m³) and 60-day average (2.2 μg/m³) PM_2.5 were 14.6 (9.4, 14.8) and 4.9 (0.5, 9.2) minutes, respectively. In addition, there was a synergistic interaction (p = 0.08) between short-term and intermediate-term PM_2.5 exposure on HSV, indicative that the association between intermediate-term PM_2.5 and HSV became stronger as short-term PM_2.5 increases, and vice versa.

Short-term individual-level and intermediate-term residential-level PM_2.5 exposures are adversely and synergistically associated with increased sleep variability, an indicator of instability of sleep quantity, in adolescents. Through such an association with sleep pattern, PM_2.5 air pollution may increase long-term cardiometabolic risks.