Short-term air pollution exposure decreases lung function: a repeated measures study in healthy adults

BACKGROUND: Daily changes in ambient concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ozone are associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality, with the lungs and their function being a vulnerable target. METHODS: To evaluate the association between daily changes in air pollution and lung function in healthy adults we obtained annual lung function measurements from a routine worker health surveillance program not designed for research purposes. Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC and Peak Expiratory flow (PEF) from a cohort of 2449 employees were associated with daily measurements of PM(10), NO(2) and ozone at a nearby monitoring station in the North of Belgium. Repeated measures were available for the period 2011–2015. RESULTS: The mean (SD) PM(10) concentration on the day of the lung function test was 24.9 (15.5) μg/m(3). A 10 μg PM(10)/m(3) increase on the day of the clinical examination was associated with a 18.9 ml lower FVC (95% CI: -27.5 to −10.3, p < 0.0001), 12.8 ml lower FEV1 (−19.1 to −6.5; p < 0.0001), and a 51.4 ml/s lower PEF (−75.0 to −27.0; p < 0.0001). The FEV1/FVC-ratio showed no associations. An increase of 10 μgNO(2)/m(3) was associated with a reduction in PEF (−66.1 ml/s (−106.6 to −25.6; p < 0.001)) on the day of the examination. CONCLUSIONS: We found negative associations between daily variations in ambient air pollution and FVC, FEV1 and PEF in healthy adults. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-017-0271-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.