Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts
Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to air pollutants and road traffic noise triggers stress responses, which mediate physiological responses in multiple organs and tissues. However, epidemiological study in children is sparse. We aimed to evaluate whether outdoor air pollution and road traffic...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; |
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| 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:10230/70763 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70763 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10654-025-01227-8 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Air pollution Allostasis Children Environmental exposure Noise Particulate matter Transportation |
| _version_ | 1878740069174476800 |
|---|---|
| author | Mou, Yuchan |
| author2 | Kusters, Michelle S.W. Robinson, Oliver Maitre, Léa McEachan, Rosemary R.C. Yuan, Wen Lun Krog, Norun Hjertager Andrušaitytė, Sandra Bustamante Pineda, Mariona Castro, Montserrat de Dedele, Audrius Wright, John Gražulevičienė, Regina Aasvang, Gunn Marit Lepeule, Johanna Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J. Tiemeier, Henning Vrijheid, Martine Thomson, Errol M. Guxens Junyent, Mònica |
| author2_role | author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author |
| author_browse | Aasvang, Gunn Marit Andrušaitytė, Sandra Bustamante Pineda, Mariona Castro, Montserrat de Dedele, Audrius Gražulevičienė, Regina Guxens Junyent, Mònica Krog, Norun Hjertager Kusters, Michelle S.W. Lepeule, Johanna Maitre, Léa McEachan, Rosemary R.C. Mou, Yuchan Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J. Robinson, Oliver Thomson, Errol M. Tiemeier, Henning Vrijheid, Martine Wright, John Yuan, Wen Lun |
| author_facet | Mou, Yuchan Kusters, Michelle S.W. Robinson, Oliver Maitre, Léa McEachan, Rosemary R.C. Yuan, Wen Lun Krog, Norun Hjertager Andrušaitytė, Sandra Bustamante Pineda, Mariona Castro, Montserrat de Dedele, Audrius Wright, John Gražulevičienė, Regina Aasvang, Gunn Marit Lepeule, Johanna Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J. Tiemeier, Henning Vrijheid, Martine Thomson, Errol M. Guxens Junyent, Mònica |
| author_role | author |
| collection | Repositorio Digital de la UPF |
| description | Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to air pollutants and road traffic noise triggers stress responses, which mediate physiological responses in multiple organs and tissues. However, epidemiological study in children is sparse. We aimed to evaluate whether outdoor air pollution and road traffic noise are associated with physiological response measured by allostatic load in children. We studied 919 children aged 6-11 years from the HELIX (Human Early Life Exposome) cohort in 6 European countries with 19 biomarkers assessed in four physiological systems-cardiovascular, metabolic, immune/inflammation, and neuroendocrine systems. We then calculated both count-based and continuous scores for each physiological system and generated allostatic load scores (range 0-19). Exposure to air pollution (NO2, PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5absorbance) and road traffic noise (LDEN) based on participants' home, school, and commuting route addresses were estimated for the year prior to outcome assessment. Higher exposure to all air pollutants was associated with a higher allostatic load, although only the association of PM10 survived correction for multiple testing (for count-based allostatic load score: RR = 1.27, 95%CI: 1.08, 1.48; for continuous allostatic load score: β = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.27-0.84, per each 10 µg/m3 increase in PM10). Examining physiological systems separately, higher exposure to air pollution was mainly associated with higher allostatic load in the immune/inflammatory and metabolic systems. No associations between road traffic noise and allostatic load were observed. Our findings suggest that air pollution act as a chronic stressor in manifesting multi-systemic physiological dysregulation in childhood, which may be a precursor of air pollution-related diseases. |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| format | article |
| id | ES_ccfd2a7dc7a7cdc3ea5eb1223bc89fc4 |
| institution | Universitat Pompeu Fabra |
| instname_str | Universitat Pompeu Fabra |
| network_acronym_str | ES |
| network_name_str | España |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/70763 |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Springer |
| publisherStr | Springer |
| reponame_str | Repositorio Digital de la UPF |
| spelling | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts Mou, Yuchan Kusters, Michelle S.W. Robinson, Oliver Maitre, Léa McEachan, Rosemary R.C. Yuan, Wen Lun Krog, Norun Hjertager Andrušaitytė, Sandra Bustamante Pineda, Mariona Castro, Montserrat de Dedele, Audrius Wright, John Gražulevičienė, Regina Aasvang, Gunn Marit Lepeule, Johanna Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J. Tiemeier, Henning Vrijheid, Martine Thomson, Errol M. Guxens Junyent, Mònica Air pollution Allostasis Children Environmental exposure Noise Particulate matter Transportation Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to air pollutants and road traffic noise triggers stress responses, which mediate physiological responses in multiple organs and tissues. However, epidemiological study in children is sparse. We aimed to evaluate whether outdoor air pollution and road traffic noise are associated with physiological response measured by allostatic load in children. We studied 919 children aged 6-11 years from the HELIX (Human Early Life Exposome) cohort in 6 European countries with 19 biomarkers assessed in four physiological systems-cardiovascular, metabolic, immune/inflammation, and neuroendocrine systems. We then calculated both count-based and continuous scores for each physiological system and generated allostatic load scores (range 0-19). Exposure to air pollution (NO2, PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5absorbance) and road traffic noise (LDEN) based on participants' home, school, and commuting route addresses were estimated for the year prior to outcome assessment. Higher exposure to all air pollutants was associated with a higher allostatic load, although only the association of PM10 survived correction for multiple testing (for count-based allostatic load score: RR = 1.27, 95%CI: 1.08, 1.48; for continuous allostatic load score: β = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.27-0.84, per each 10 µg/m3 increase in PM10). Examining physiological systems separately, higher exposure to air pollution was mainly associated with higher allostatic load in the immune/inflammatory and metabolic systems. No associations between road traffic noise and allostatic load were observed. Our findings suggest that air pollution act as a chronic stressor in manifesting multi-systemic physiological dysregulation in childhood, which may be a precursor of air pollution-related diseases. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 874583, Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome research and Translation (ATHLETE). Data were collected as part of the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no 308333 (HELIX) and additionally as part of the UK Research and Innovation Metage project (MR/S03532X/1). The HELIX program built on six existing cohorts that received previous funding, including the major ones listed below. INMA data collections were supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBERESP, and the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT. KANC was funded by the grant of the Lithuanian Agency for Science Innovation and Technology (6- 04-2014_31V-66). The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH)/ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (contract no. N01-ES-75558), and NIH/ NINDS (grants 1 UO1 NS 047537–01 and 2 UO1 NS 047537- 06A1). The Rhea project was financially supported by European projects and the Greek Ministry of Health (Program of Prevention of Obesity and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Preschool Children in Heraklion district, Crete, Greece: 2011– 2014; “Rhea Plus,” Primary Prevention Program of Environmental Risk Factors for Reproductive Health, and Child Health: 2012– 2015). ISGlobal acknowledges support from the grant CEX2023-0001290-S funded by MCIN/AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033, and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. INMA data collections were supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176; CB06/02/0041; PI041436; PI081151 incl. FEDER funds; PI12/01890 incl. FEDER funds; CP13/00054 incl. FEDER funds), CIBERESP, and the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, Generalitat de Catalunya-AGAUR (2009 SGR 501, 2014 SGR 822, 2021 SGR 01564), Fundació La marató de TV3 (090430), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2012-32991 incl. FEDER funds), Agence Nationale de Securite Sanitaire de l’Alimentation de l’Environnement et du Travail (1262C0010), EU Commission (261,357, 308,333, 603,794 and 634,453).. The EDEN study was supported by Foundation for medical research (FRM), National Agency for Research (ANR), National Institute for Research in Public health (IRESP: TGIR cohorte santé 2008 program), French Ministry of Health (DGS), French Ministry of Research, INSERM Bone and Joint Diseases National Research (PRO-A) and Human Nutrition National Research Programs, Paris-Sud University, Nestlé, French National Institute for Population Health Surveillance (InVS), French National Institute for Health Education (INPES), the European Union FP7 programmes (FP7/2007–2013, HELIX, ESCAPE, ENRIECO, Medall projects), Diabetes National Research Program (through a collaboration with the French Association of Diabetic Patients (AFD)), French Agency for Environmental Health Safety (now ANSES), Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale a complementary health insurance (MGEN), French national agency for food security, French speaking association for the study of diabetes and metabolism (ALFEDIAM). KANC was funded by the grant of the Lithuanian Agency for Science Innovation and Technology (6–04-2014_31V-66). Born in Bradford received funding from UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and UK Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) (MR/N024391/1); the British Heart Foundation (CS/16/4/32482); the Wellcome Trust (WT101597MA; 223,601/Z/21/Z); the National Institute for Health Research under its Applied Research Collaboration for Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR200166). The National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network provided research delivery support for this study. Yuchan Mou was supported by the Ter Meulen Fund (TMB416), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mònica Guxens was funded by a Miguel Servet II fellowship (CPII18/00018) awarded by the Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III. This publication was co-financed by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the European Social Fund (FSE) "El FSE invierte en tu futuro" with reference number PRE2020-092005, according to the Resolution of the Presidency of the AEI, by which grants are awarded for pre-doctoral contracts for the training of doctors, call 2020 (awarded to M.S.W.K). Oliver Robinson was supported by a UKRI Future Leader fellowship (MR/S03532X/1). Wen Lun Yuan received a postdoctoral fellowship from Fondation de France and is supported by LONGITOOLS, a project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant number 874739). Léa Maitre received the RYC2022-036475-I support, funded by MCIN/AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 and by the FSE + . M.C. received funding from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) (MS16/00128). L.C. was supported by the NIH/NIEHS grants R21ES029681, R01ES030691, R01ES029944, R01 ES030364, R21ES028903, and P30ES007048. Collaborative work between Errol M. Thomson and Mònica Guxens on links between environmental stressors and allostatic load was supported through the Addressing Air Pollution Horizontal Initiative (Health Canada; E.T.) Springer http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70763 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10654-025-01227-8 |
| spellingShingle | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts Mou, Yuchan Air pollution Allostasis Children Environmental exposure Noise Particulate matter Transportation |
| status_str | publishedVersion |
| title | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts |
| title_full | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts |
| title_fullStr | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts |
| title_short | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts |
| title_sort | Outdoor air pollution, road traffic noise, and allostatic load in children aged 6-11 years: evidence from six European cohorts |
| topic | Air pollution Allostasis Children Environmental exposure Noise Particulate matter Transportation |
| topic_facet | Air pollution Allostasis Children Environmental exposure Noise Particulate matter Transportation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70763 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10654-025-01227-8 |