Exposure to Traffic Pollution and Increased Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis
| Title: | Exposure to Traffic Pollution and Increased Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Author: |
Puett, Robin C.; Hart, Jaime Elizabeth; Laden, Francine; Costenbader, Karen Harte; Karlson, Elizabeth Wood
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. |
| Citation: | Hart, Jaime E., Francine Laden, Robin C. Puett, Karen H. Costenbader, and Elizabeth W. Karlson. 2009. Exposure to Traffic Pollution and Increased Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Environmental Health Perspectives 117(7): 1065-1069. |
| Full Text & Related Files: |
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| Abstract: | Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease that affects approximately 1% of the adult population, and to date, genetic factors explain < 50% of the risk. Particulate air pollution, especially of traffic origin, has been linked to systemic inflammation in many studies. Objectives: We examined the association of distance to road, a marker of traffic pollution exposure, and incidence of RA in a prospective cohort study.Methods We studied 90,297 U.S. women in the Nurses’ Health Study. We used a geographic information system to determine distance to road at the residence in 2000 as a measure of traffic exposure. Using Cox proportional hazard models, we examined the association of distance to road and incident RA (1976–2004) with adjustment for a large number of potential confounders. Results: In models adjusted for age, calendar year, race, cigarette smoking, parity, lactation, menopausal status and hormone use, oral contraceptive use, body mass index, physical activity, and census-tract-level median income and house value, we observed an elevated risk of RA [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98–1.74] in women living within 50 m of a road, compared with those women living 200 m or farther away. We also observed this association in analyses among nonsmokers (HR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.04–2.52), nonsmokers with rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative RA (HR = 1.77; 95% CI, 0.93–3.38), and nonsmokers with RF-positive RA (HR = 1.51; 95% CI, 0.82–2.77). We saw no elevations in risk in women living 50–200 m from the road. Conclusions: The observed association between exposure to traffic pollution and RA suggests that pollution from traffic in adulthood may be a newly identified environmental risk factor for RA. |
| Published Version: | doi:10.1289/ehp.0800503 |
| Other Sources: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2717131/pdf/ |
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| Citable link to this page: | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4889442 |
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