Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment

Objective: Environmental health impact assessments (HIA)on green space, air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or nitrogen dioxide (NO2)), and noise use exposure-response functions (ERF) based on single-exposure models from epidemiological studies, not accounting for potential confounding by...

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Authors: Chen, Xuan; Gehring, Ulrike; Dyer, Georgia M. C.; de Hoogh, Kees; Khomenko, Sasha; Khreis, Haneen; Mueller, Natalie, 1988-; Vermeulen, Roel; Williams, Harry; Zapata-Diomedi, Belén; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.; Hoek, Gerard
Format: Article
Status:Published version
Publication date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/71218
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109645
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Air pollution
Exposure–response functions
Green space
Health impact assessment
Noise
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author Chen, Xuan
author2 Gehring, Ulrike
Dyer, Georgia M. C.
de Hoogh, Kees
Khomenko, Sasha
Khreis, Haneen
Mueller, Natalie, 1988-
Vermeulen, Roel
Williams, Harry
Zapata-Diomedi, Belén
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Hoek, Gerard
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author_browse Chen, Xuan
Dyer, Georgia M. C.
Gehring, Ulrike
Hoek, Gerard
Khomenko, Sasha
Khreis, Haneen
Mueller, Natalie, 1988-
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Vermeulen, Roel
Williams, Harry
Zapata-Diomedi, Belén
de Hoogh, Kees
author_facet Chen, Xuan
Gehring, Ulrike
Dyer, Georgia M. C.
de Hoogh, Kees
Khomenko, Sasha
Khreis, Haneen
Mueller, Natalie, 1988-
Vermeulen, Roel
Williams, Harry
Zapata-Diomedi, Belén
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Hoek, Gerard
author_role author
collection Repositorio Digital de la UPF
description Objective: Environmental health impact assessments (HIA)on green space, air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or nitrogen dioxide (NO2)), and noise use exposure-response functions (ERF) based on single-exposure models from epidemiological studies, not accounting for potential confounding by other commonly correlated exposures. We assessed differences in ERFs between single- and multi-exposure models for calculation of joint health impacts in HIA. Methods: We systematically searched cohort studies that reported both single- and multi-exposure models for associations of long-term exposure to any combination of the following exposures green space, PM2.5, NO2, and noise, with all-cause mortality. For each exposure, pooled hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated by meta-analyses and compared between single- and two-exposure models. The joint effects of two exposures in each exposure pair were expressed as joint HRs calculated by multiplying the individual HRs. Coefficient differences were calculated, and population attributable fractions (PAF) were used to estimate joint health impacts. Results: Eleven studies were identified, examining associations between multiple exposures and mortality in the general population. The studies show substantial variability in exposure levels and correlations between exposures. For most exposure pairs, adjusting for a second exposure resulted in moderately attenuated HRs compared to single-exposure models. The mortality PAFs estimated from joint single-exposure model HRs were higher than those from two-exposure models, indicating an overestimation of mortality burden when not accounting for other co-exposures. For example, when adjusted for green space or noise, the mortality HRs for PM2.5 were attenuated from 1.071 to 1.061 and 1.072 to 1.055, respectively. As for PAFs, for the green space-PM2.5 pair, the single-exposure model PAF (0.090) was 18.4% higher than the two-exposure model (0.076). For all exposure pairs, the joint PAFs of two-exposure models were higher than the PAFs from the single-exposure models for each exposure individually. Conclusion: The pooled coefficient differences from this study can be used to adjust single-exposure ERFs from meta-analyses and allow the calculation of combined impacts from multiple environmental exposures, making HIA estimates more robust and realistic.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
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institution Universitat Pompeu Fabra
instname_str Universitat Pompeu Fabra
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
oai_identifier_str oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/71218
publishDate 2025
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publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
reponame_str Repositorio Digital de la UPF
spelling Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment Chen, Xuan Gehring, Ulrike Dyer, Georgia M. C. de Hoogh, Kees Khomenko, Sasha Khreis, Haneen Mueller, Natalie, 1988- Vermeulen, Roel Williams, Harry Zapata-Diomedi, Belén Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J. Hoek, Gerard Air pollution Exposure–response functions Green space Health impact assessment Noise Objective: Environmental health impact assessments (HIA)on green space, air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or nitrogen dioxide (NO2)), and noise use exposure-response functions (ERF) based on single-exposure models from epidemiological studies, not accounting for potential confounding by other commonly correlated exposures. We assessed differences in ERFs between single- and multi-exposure models for calculation of joint health impacts in HIA. Methods: We systematically searched cohort studies that reported both single- and multi-exposure models for associations of long-term exposure to any combination of the following exposures green space, PM2.5, NO2, and noise, with all-cause mortality. For each exposure, pooled hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated by meta-analyses and compared between single- and two-exposure models. The joint effects of two exposures in each exposure pair were expressed as joint HRs calculated by multiplying the individual HRs. Coefficient differences were calculated, and population attributable fractions (PAF) were used to estimate joint health impacts. Results: Eleven studies were identified, examining associations between multiple exposures and mortality in the general population. The studies show substantial variability in exposure levels and correlations between exposures. For most exposure pairs, adjusting for a second exposure resulted in moderately attenuated HRs compared to single-exposure models. The mortality PAFs estimated from joint single-exposure model HRs were higher than those from two-exposure models, indicating an overestimation of mortality burden when not accounting for other co-exposures. For example, when adjusted for green space or noise, the mortality HRs for PM2.5 were attenuated from 1.071 to 1.061 and 1.072 to 1.055, respectively. As for PAFs, for the green space-PM2.5 pair, the single-exposure model PAF (0.090) was 18.4% higher than the two-exposure model (0.076). For all exposure pairs, the joint PAFs of two-exposure models were higher than the PAFs from the single-exposure models for each exposure individually. Conclusion: The pooled coefficient differences from this study can be used to adjust single-exposure ERFs from meta-analyses and allow the calculation of combined impacts from multiple environmental exposures, making HIA estimates more robust and realistic. This project has received funding from the European Union's, Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) under GA No 101094639 – THE URBAN BURDEN OF DISEASE ESTIMATION FOR POLICY MAKING (UBDPolicy). We also acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and State Research Agency through the grant CEX2018-000806-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) programme; support from Centro de Investigacioń Bioḿedica en red Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP). Elsevier http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71218 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109645
spellingShingle Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
Chen, Xuan
Air pollution
Exposure–response functions
Green space
Health impact assessment
Noise
status_str publishedVersion
title Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
title_full Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
title_fullStr Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
title_full_unstemmed Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
title_short Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
title_sort Exposure-response functions of the correlated environmental exposures green space, noise, and air pollution for quantifying mortality burden in health impact assessment
topic Air pollution
Exposure–response functions
Green space
Health impact assessment
Noise
topic_facet Air pollution
Exposure–response functions
Green space
Health impact assessment
Noise
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71218
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109645