Wang Jianing, Ma Yudiyang, Tang Linxi, Li Dankang, Xie Junqing, Sun Yu, Tian Yaohua
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating).
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, and.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2024 Apr 15;209(8):987-994. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202308-1440OC.
Benzene affects human health through environmental exposure in addition to occupational contact. However, few studies have examined the associations between long-term exposure to low concentrations of ambient benzene and mortality risks in nonoccupational settings. This prospective cohort study consists of 393,042 participants without stroke, myocardial infarction, or cancer at baseline from the UK Biobank. Annual average concentrations of benzene for each year during follow-up were measured using air dispersion models. The main outcomes were all-cause mortality and mortality from specific causes. Cox proportional-hazards models with time-varying exposure measurements were used to estimate the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mortality risks. Restricted cubic spline models were used to estimate exposure-response relationships. With each interquartile range increase in the average annual concentration of benzene, the adjusted hazard ratios of mortality risk from all causes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease were 1.26 (95% CI, 1.24-1.27), 1.24 (95% CI, 1.21-1.28), 1.27 (95% CI, 1.25-1.29), and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.20-1.30), respectively. The monotonically increasing exposure-response curves showed no threshold and plateau within the observed concentration range. Furthermore, the effect of benzene exposure on mortality persisted across different subgroups and was somewhat stronger in younger and White people ( for interaction < 0.05). Long-term exposure to low concentrations of ambient benzene significantly increases mortality risk in the general population. Ambient benzene represents a potential threat to public health, and further investigations are needed to support timely pollution regulation and health protection.
除职业接触外，苯还可通过环境暴露影响人类健康。然而，很少有研究探讨非职业环境中长期接触低浓度环境苯与死亡风险之间的关联。这项前瞻性队列研究纳入了英国生物银行中393,042名基线时无中风、心肌梗死或癌症的参与者。随访期间每年的苯年均浓度通过空气扩散模型进行测量。主要结局为全因死亡率和特定原因死亡率。使用具有随时间变化的暴露测量值的Cox比例风险模型来估计死亡风险的风险比和95%置信区间（CI）。使用受限立方样条模型来估计暴露-反应关系。苯年均浓度每增加一个四分位数间距，全因、心血管疾病、癌症和呼吸系统疾病死亡风险的校正风险比分别为1.26（95%CI，1.24-1.27）、1.24（95%CI，1.21-1.28）、1.27（95%CI，1.25-1.29）和1.25（95%CI，1.20-1.30）。单调递增的暴露-反应曲线在观察到的浓度范围内未显示出阈值和平稳期。此外，苯暴露对死亡率的影响在不同亚组中均持续存在，且在年轻人和白人中影响稍强（交互作用P<0.05）。长期接触低浓度环境苯会显著增加普通人群的死亡风险。环境苯对公众健康构成潜在威胁，需要进一步调查以支持及时的污染监管和健康保护。
