Association between ambient air pollutant interaction with kidney function in a large Taiwanese population study.

The associations and interactions between kidney function and other air pollutants remain poorly defined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate associations among air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) with a diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM _2.5 ), PM ₁₀ (PM with a diameter ≤ 10 μm), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO), nitrogen oxides (NO _x ), sulfur dioxide (SO ₂ ), and ozone (O ₃ ) with kidney function, and explore interactions among these air pollutants on kidney function. We used the Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring and Taiwan Biobank databases to derive data on community-dwelling individuals in Taiwan and daily air pollution levels, respectively. We enrolled 26,032 participants. Multivariable analysis showed that high levels of PM _2.5 , PM ₁₀ , O ₃ (all p < 0.001), and SO ₂ (p = 0.001) and low levels of CO, NO (both p < 0.001), and NO _x (p = 0.047) were significantly correlated with low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). With regard to negative effects, the interactions between PM _2.5 and PM ₁₀ (p < 0.001), PM _2.5 and PM ₁₀ (p < 0.001), PM _2.5 and SO ₂ , PM ₁₀ and O ₃ (both p = 0.025), PM ₁₀ and SO ₂ (p = 0.001), and O ₃ and SO ₂ (p < 0.001) on eGFR were significantly negatively. High PM ₁₀ , PM _2.5 , O ₃ , and SO ₂ were associated with a low eGFR, whereas high CO, NO, and NO _x were associated with a high eGFR. Furthermore, negative interactions between PM _2.5 and PM ₁₀ , O ₃ and SO ₂ , PM ₁₀ and O ₃ , PM _2.5 and SO ₂ , and PM ₁₀ and SO ₂ on eGFR were observed. The findings of this study have important implications for public health and environmental policy. Specifically, the results of this study may be useful in individuals and organizations to take action to reduce air pollution and promote public health.
(© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)