Short-Term Associations between Size-Fractioned Particles and Cardiopulmonary Function in COPD Patients: A Panel Study in Shanghai, China, during 2014-2021

Lu Zhou; Yingmin Tao; Xiaozhen Su; Xiyin Chen; Liang Li; Qingyan Fu; Juan Xie; Renjie Chen

doi:10.3390/ijerph191912473

Short-Term Associations between Size-Fractioned Particles and Cardiopulmonary Function in COPD Patients: A Panel Study in Shanghai, China, during 2014-2021

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 30;19(19):12473. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912473.

Authors

Lu Zhou¹, Yingmin Tao^{2

3}, Xiaozhen Su¹, Xiyin Chen⁴, Liang Li^{2

3}, Qingyan Fu⁵, Juan Xie^{2

3}, Renjie Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
² Division of General Practice, The Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai 200240, China.
³ Center of Community-Based Health Research, Fudan University, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁴ Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
⁵ Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center, Shanghai 200235, China.

Abstract

It remains unknown which size fractions dominate the adverse cardiopulmonary effects of particulate matter (PM). Therefore, this study aimed to explore the differential associations between size-fractioned particle number concentrations (PNCs) and cardiopulmonary function measures, including the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁), the forced vital capacity (FVC), and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). We conducted a panel study among 211 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Shanghai, China, between January 2014 and December 2021. We applied linear mixed-effect models to determine the associations between cardiopulmonary function measures and PNCs ranging from 0.01 to 10 μm in diameter. Generally, only particles <1 μm showed significant associations, i.e., ultrafine particles (UFPs, <0.1 μm) for FVC and particles ranging from 0.1 to 1 µm for FEV₁ and LVEF. An interquartile range (IQR) increment in UFP was associated with decreases of 78.4 mL in FVC. PNC_0.1-0.3 and PNC_0.3-1 corresponded to the strongest effects on FEV₁ (119.5 mL) and LVEF (1.5%) per IQR increment. Particles <1 µm might dominate the cardiopulmonary toxicity of PM, but UFPs might not always have the strongest effect. Tailored regulations towards particles <1 µm should be intensified to reduce PM pollution and protect vulnerable populations.

Keywords: COPD; cardiopulmonary function; panel study; size-fractioned particles.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollutants* / toxicity
Air Pollution* / adverse effects
Air Pollution* / analysis
China / epidemiology
Environmental Exposure / adverse effects
Humans
Particle Size
Particulate Matter / analysis
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive*
Stroke Volume
Ventricular Function, Left

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Collaborating Program of Fudan-Minhang Academic Health System (2020FM10) and the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (21TQ015).