Association of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter and incident dyslipidaemia: A longitudinal cohort study.

Evidence of the effects of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) air pollution on the development of dyslipidaemia is limited. This study aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 and incident dyslipidaemia in a large cohort. We studied 66,702 participants aged ≥18 years belonging to a cohort from a standard medical examination programme conducted in Taiwan between 2001 and 2014. The PM 2.5 concentration at each participant's address was estimated using a satellite-based spatiotemporal model at a high resolution (1 km2). A time-varying Cox regression model was used to examine the association between long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 and the development of dyslipidaemia. Additionally, sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the stability of these associations. Compared with participants exposed to the 1st tertile of PM 2.5 , participants exposed to the 2nd and 3rd tertiles of PM 2.5 had respective hazard ratios of 1.02 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.98–1.06] and 1.08 (95%CI: 1.04–1.13) for incident dyslipidaemia. Sensitivity analyses generally yielded similar results. Long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 is associated with a higher risk of dyslipidaemia. Global strategies for reducing air pollution are needed to prevent the development of dyslipidaemia. • This is the largest longitudinal cohort study consisting of 66,702 adults. • The mean PM 2.5 was 27.0 μg/m3 and the interquartile range was 9.6 μg/m3 with a range of 5.8–50.3 μg/m3 • Ambient PM 2.5 is associated with a higher risk of dyslipidaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]