Airborne occupational exposures and inflammatory biomarkers in the Lifelines cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Inflammatory biomarkers are associated with negative health outcomes. In this study, we investigated the associations between airborne occupational exposures and levels and changes in inflammatory biomarkers. METHODS: We included 79 604 adults at baseline from the Lifelines cohort of which 48 403 (60.8%) subjects were followed for a median of 4.5 years. Airborne occupational exposures at the current or last-held job at baseline were estimated with the occupational asthma-specific job-exposure matrix. Both in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, we used linear regression models (adjusted for age, sex, education, monthly income, body mass index, smoking, pack-years, asthma and anti-inflammatory medication) to investigate the associations between airborne occupational exposures (allergens, reactive chemicals, pesticides and micro-organisms) and inflammatory biomarkers (C reactive protein (CRP), eosinophils and neutrophils). RESULTS: In the cross-sectional analyses, exposure to allergens, reactive chemicals and micro-organisms was associated with a lower (Log) CRP level (B(95% CI)=−0.05 (−0.08 to −0.02),–0.05(−0.08 to −0.02) and −0.09(−0.16 to −0.02), respectively). Likewise, exposure to allergens, reactive chemicals, pesticides and micro-organisms was associated with a lower (log) neutrophils count (−0.01 (−0.02 to −0.01), −0.01 (−0.02 to −0.01),–0.02 (−0.04 to −0.01) and −0.02(−0.03 to −0.01), respectively). No association between airborne occupational exposures and eosinophils count was found. In the longitudinal analyses, no association between airborne occupational exposures and changes in inflammatory biomarkers was found. CONCLUSIONS: At baseline, airborne occupational exposures are inversely associated with inflammation; no effect of occupational exposures on inflammation was found at follow-up. In the future studies, details of occupational exposures, such as duration of exposures and cumulative exposures, need to be included to investigate the airborne occupational exposures and inflammatory biomarkers.