Short-term ambient ozone exposure and inflammatory biomarkers in adolescents: Results of the GINIplus and LISA birth cohorts

TPS 911: Air pollution, epigenetics, biomarkers, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 26, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background: Ambient air pollution is considered to be associated with many diseases via inflammatory response, though this mechanism is still not fully illustrated. Aim: We analyzed associations between short-term exposure to ozone, an oxidative pollutant, and inflammatory biomarkers among healthy adolescents. Methods: These cross-sectional analyses were based on 1243 10-year-old and 1557 15-year-old participants from Munich and Wesel areas of the GINIplus and LISA German birth cohorts. Maximum 8-hour averages of ozone and daily average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter < 10 µm (PM10) were adopted from two background monitoring stations 0 (same day), 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days prior to blood sampling. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and high-sensitivity - C reactive protein (hs-CRP) were available for two age groups while interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured at 10 years only. To assess associations between ozone exposure and biomarkers, generalized additive models were utilized for FeNO, and logistic regressions were adopted for hs-CRP and IL-6, adjusted for potential confounders as well as co-pollutants NO2 and PM10. Results: We found that ozone exposure was robustly positively associated with FeNO in adolescents at the age of 15 years, with the most significant association 4.08%, 95% confidence interval 2.02 – 5.13, but not at age 10. Ozone was neither associated with hs-CRP levels at age 10 nor age 15 years if region-specific effects were combined. No consistent associations were observed between ozone exposure and IL-6 in children aged 10 years. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates significant associations between ozone exposure and FeNO at 15 years of age. This finding indicates that acute ozone exposure may cause inflammatory responses in adolescents, which is especially visible for lung inflammation. Further research with more inflammatory markers is warranted.