Long-term effect of personal PM2.5 exposure on lung function: A panel study in China

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) have been associated with adverse respiratory outcomes, but long-term effect of personal exposure on lung function remains largely unknown. We conducted a panel study of 158 adult residents with 394 measurements of personal PM2.5 concentration and lung function within six years to investigate the long-term association. Linear mixed models were used to identify the associations between lung function changes in relation to different levels of persistent personal PM2.5 exposure in three or six years. We further attempted to validate resident areas (city) and smoking status as potential predictors of the long-term PM2.5 exposure levels (persistently high/ persistently low) by generating ROC curves. Compared with subjects who had persistently low exposure level, those with persistently high levels of personal PM2.5 exposure had an additional 3.63 % decline in FEV1/FVC in three years (-3.63 [-7.25, -0.02]), while 7.15 % decline in six years (-7.15 [-14.27, -0.03]). BMI can modify the association. The AUCs were 0.68 (95 %CI: 0.54, 0.82), 0.75 (0.64, 0.86), and 0.82 (0.71, 0.93) for models including smoking status, resident areas, and smoking status combining resident areas respectively. These findings provide new evidence for the long-term effect of personal PM2.5 exposure on lung function decline.