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Blomberg AJ, Nyhan MM, Bind MA, Vokonas P, Coull BA, Schwartz J, Koutrakis P. The Role of Ambient Particle Radioactivity in Inflammation and Endothelial Function in an Elderly Cohort. Epidemiology 2020; 31:499-508. [PMID: 32282436 DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The mechanisms by which exposure to particulate matter might increase risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are not fully known. However, few existing studies have investigated the potential role of particle radioactivity. Naturally occurring radionuclides attach to particulate matter and continue to release ionizing radiation after inhalation and deposition in the lungs. We hypothesize that exposure to particle radioactivity increases biomarkers of inflammation. METHODS Our repeated-measures study included 752 men in the greater Boston area. We estimated regional particle radioactivity as a daily spatial average of gross beta concentrations from five monitors in the study area. We used linear mixed-effects regression models to estimate short- and medium-term associations between particle radioactivity and biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, with and without adjustment for additional particulate air pollutants. RESULTS We observed associations between particle radioactivity on C-reactive protein (CRP), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), but no associations with fibrinogen. An interquartile range width increase in mean 7-day particle radioactivity (1.2 × 10 Bq/m) was associated with a 4.9% increase in CRP (95% CI = 0.077, 9.9), a 2.8% increase in ICAM-1 (95% CI = 1.4, 4.2), and a 4.3% increase in VCAM-1 (95% CI = 2.5, 6.1). The main effects of particle radioactivity remained similar after adjustment in most cases. We also obtained similar effect estimates in a sensitivity analysis applying a robust causal model. CONCLUSION Regional particle radioactivity is positively associated with inflammatory biomarkers, indicating a potential pathway for radiation-induced cardiovascular effects.
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Li L, Blomberg AJ, Spengler JD, Coull BA, Schwartz JD, Koutrakis P. Unconventional oil and gas development and ambient particle radioactivity. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5002. [PMID: 33051463 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18226-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) expanded extensively in the United States from the early 2000s. However, the influence of UOGD on the radioactivity of ambient particulate is not well understood. We collected the ambient particle radioactivity (PR) measurements of RadNet, a nationwide environmental radiation monitoring network. We obtained the information of over 1.5 million wells from the Enverus database. We investigated the association between the upwind UOGD well count and the downwind gross-beta radiation with adjustment for environmental factors governing the natural emission and transport of radioactivity. Our statistical analysis found that an additional 100 upwind UOGD wells within 20 km is associated with an increase of 0.024 mBq/m3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.020, 0.028 mBq/m3) in the gross-beta particle radiation downwind. Based on the published health analysis of PR, the widespread UOGD could induce adverse health effects to residents living close to UOGD by elevating PR.
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Peralta AA, Link MS, Schwartz J, Luttmann-Gibson H, Dockery DW, Blomberg A, Wei Y, Mittleman MA, Gold DR, Laden F, Coull BA, Koutrakis P. Exposure to Air Pollution and Particle Radioactivity With the Risk of Ventricular Arrhythmias. Circulation 2020; 142:858-867. [PMID: 32795087 PMCID: PMC7484430 DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.120.046321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals are exposed to air pollution and ionizing radiation from natural sources through inhalation of particles. This study investigates the association between cardiac arrhythmias and short-term exposures to fine particulate matter (particulate matter ≤2.5 µm aerodynamic diameter; PM2.5) and particle radioactivity. METHODS Ventricular arrhythmic events were identified among 176 patients with dual-chamber implanted cardioverter-defibrillators in Boston, Massachusetts between September 2006 and June 2010. Patients were assigned exposures based on residential addresses. Daily PM2.5 levels were estimated at 1-km×1-km grid cells from a previously validated prediction model. Particle gross β activity was used as a surrogate for particle radioactivity and was measured from several monitoring sites by the US Environmental Protection Agency's monitoring network. The association of the onset of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) with 0- to 21-day moving averages of PM2.5 and particle radioactivity (2 single-pollutant models and a 2-pollutant model) before the event was examined using time-stratified case-crossover analyses, adjusted for dew point and air temperatures. RESULTS A total of 1,050 VA were recorded among 91 patients, including 123 sustained VA among 25 of these patients. In the single-pollutant model of PM2.5, each interquartile range increase in daily PM2.5 levels for a 21-day moving average was associated with 39% higher odds of a VA event (95% CI, 12%-72%). In the single-pollutant model of particle radioactivity, each interquartile range increase in particle radioactivity for a 2-day moving average was associated with 13% higher odds of a VA event (95% CI, 1%-26%). In the 2-pollutant model, for the same averaging window of 21 days, each interquartile range increase in daily PM2.5 was associated with an 48% higher odds of a VA event (95% CI, 15%-90%), and each interquartile range increase of particle radioactivity with a 10% lower odds of a VA event (95% CI, -29% to 14%). We found that with higher levels of particle radioactivity, the effect of PM2.5 on VAs is reduced. CONCLUSIONS In this high-risk population, intermediate (21-day) PM2.5 exposure was associated with higher odds of a VA event onset among patients with known cardiac disease and indication for implanted cardioverter-defibrillator implantation independently of particle radioactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adjani A. Peralta
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Mark S. Link
- UTSouthwestern Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Dallas, TX
| | - Joel Schwartz
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Heike Luttmann-Gibson
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Douglas W. Dockery
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Annelise Blomberg
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Yaguang Wei
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Murray A. Mittleman
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
| | - Diane R. Gold
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Francine Laden
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Brent A. Coull
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Petros Koutrakis
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
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Li W, Nyhan MM, Wilker EH, Vieira CLZ, Lin H, Schwartz JD, Gold DR, Coull BA, Aba AM, Benjamin EJ, Vasan RS, Koutrakis P, Mittleman MA. Recent exposure to particle radioactivity and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation: The Framingham Heart Study. Environ Int 2018; 121:1210-1216. [PMID: 30376999 PMCID: PMC6279550 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.10.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 10/17/2018] [Accepted: 10/19/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Decay products of radioactive materials may attach to ambient fine particles and form radioactive aerosol. Internal ionizing radiation source from inhaled radioactive aerosol may contribute to the fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-inflammation pathway. However, few studies in humans have examined the associations. OBJECTIVES To examine the associations between particle radioactivity and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation among participants from the Framingham Offspring and Third Generation cohorts. METHODS We included 3996 participants who were not current smokers and lived within 50 km from our central air pollution monitoring station. We estimated regional mean gross beta radioactivity from monitors in the northeastern U.S. as a surrogate for ambient radioactive particles, and calculated the 1- to 28-day moving averages. We used linear regression models for fibrinogen, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-6, and myeloperoxidase which were measured once, and linear mixed effect models for 8-epi-prostaglandin F2α, C-reactive protein, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), P-selectin, and tumor necrosis factor receptor-2 that were measured up to twice, adjusting for demographics, individual- and area-level socioeconomic positions, time, meteorology, and PM2.5. We also examined whether the associations differed by median age, sex, diabetes status, PM2.5 levels, and black carbon levels. RESULTS The mean age was 54 years and 54% were women. An interquartile range (3 × 10-3 pCi/m3) higher beta radioactivity level at the 7-day moving average was associated with 5.09% (95% CI: 0.92, 9.43), 2.65% (1.10, 4.22), and 4.71% (95% CI: 3.01, 6.44) higher levels of interleukin-6, MCP-1, and P-selectin, but with 7.01% (95% CI: -11.64, -2.15) and 2.70% (95% CI: -3.97, -1.42) lower levels of 8-epi-prostaglandin F2α and ICAM-1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Regional mean particle radioactivity was positively associated with interleukin-6, MCP-1, and P-selectin, but negatively with ICAM-1 and 8-epi-prostaglandin F2α among our study participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenyuan Li
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Division of Cardiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Marguerite M Nyhan
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Elissa H Wilker
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Division of Cardiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Carolina L Z Vieira
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Honghuang Lin
- Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Joel D Schwartz
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Diane R Gold
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Brent A Coull
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Emelia J Benjamin
- Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's and Boston University's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Ramachandran S Vasan
- Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's and Boston University's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Petros Koutrakis
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Murray A Mittleman
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Division of Cardiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
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