All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Associated with Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter in Japan: The...

Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is causally associated with mortality and cardiovascular disease. However, in terms of cardiovascular cause-specific outcomes, there are fewer studies about stroke than about coronary heart disease, particularly in Asia. Furthermore, there remains uncertainty regarding the PM_2.5-respiratory disease association. We examined whether long-term exposure to PM_2.5 is associated with all-cause, cardiovascular and respiratory disease mortality in Japan.

We used data of 46,974 participants (19,707 men; 27,267 women), who were enrolled in 2009 and followed up until 2019, in a community-based prospective cohort study (the second cohort of the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study). We estimated PM_2.5 concentrations using the inverse distance weighing methods based on ambient air monitoring data, and assigned each participant to administrative area level concentrations. A Cox proportional hazard model was applied to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of mortality.

During the average follow-up of 10 years, we confirmed 2,789 all-cause deaths. All outcomes including stroke mortality did not significantly increase as the PM_2.5 concentration increased. For non-malignant respiratory disease mortality, the multivariable adjusted HR per 1 µg/m³ increase in the PM_2.5 concentration was 1.09 (95% CI = 0.97-1.23).

In this population exposed to PM_2.5 at concentrations of 8.3-13.1 µg/m³, there was no evidence that long-term exposure to PM_2.5 had adverse effects on mortality. Weak evidence of positive association observed for non-malignant respiratory disease mortality needs further studies in other populations.