Air pollution, residential greenness, and metabolic dysfunction biomarkers: analyses in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey

BACKGROUND: We hypothesize higher air pollution and fewer greenness exposures jointly contribute to metabolic syndrome (MetS), as mechanisms on cardiometabolic mortality. METHODS: We studied the samples in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. We included 1755 participants in 2012, among which 1073 were followed up in 2014 and 561 in 2017. We used cross-sectional analysis for baseline data and the generalized estimating equations (GEE) model in a longitudinal analysis. We examined the independent and interactive effects of fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) on MetS. Adjustment covariates included biomarker measurement year, baseline age, sex, ethnicity, education, marriage, residence, exercise, smoking, alcohol drinking, and GDP per capita. RESULTS: At baseline, the average age of participants was 85.6 (SD: 12.2; range: 65–112). Greenness was slightly higher in rural areas than urban areas (NDVI mean: 0.496 vs. 0.444; range: 0.151–0.698 vs. 0.133–0.644). Ambient air pollution was similar between rural and urban areas (PM(2.5) mean: 49.0 vs. 49.1; range: 16.2–65.3 vs. 18.3–64.2). Both the cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis showed positive associations of PM(2.5) with prevalent abdominal obesity (AO) and MetS, and a negative association of NDVI with prevalent AO. In the longitudinal data, the odds ratio (OR, 95% confidence interval-CI) of PM(2.5) (per 10 μg/m(3) increase) were 1.19 (1.12, 1.27), 1.16 (1.08, 1.24), and 1.14 (1.07, 1.21) for AO, MetS and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), respectively. NDVI (per 0.1 unit increase) was associated with lower AO prevalence [OR (95% CI): 0.79 (0.71, 0.88)], but not significantly associated with MetS [OR (95% CI): 0.93 (0.84, 1.04)]. PM(2.5) and NDVI had a statistically significant interaction on AO prevalence (p(interaction): 0.025). The association between PM(2.5) and MetS, AO, elevated fasting glucose and reduced HDL-C were only significant in rural areas, not in urban areas. The association between NDVI and AO was only significant in areas with low PM(2.5), not under high PM(2.5). CONCLUSIONS: We found air pollution and greenness had independent and interactive effect on MetS components, which may ultimately manifest in pre-mature mortality. These study findings call for green space planning in urban areas and air pollution mitigation in rural areas. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13126-8.