Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Preventive Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Environ Res. 2024 Jul 1;252(Pt 4):119018. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119018. Epub 2024 Apr 27.
Disruption of thyroid function can profoundly affect various organ systems. However, studies on the association between air pollution and thyroid function are relatively scarce and most studies have focused on the long-term effects of air pollution among pregnant women.
This study aimed to explore the associations between short-term exposure to air pollution and thyroid function in the general population.
Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2015) were analyzed (n = 5,626). Air pollution concentrations in residential addresses were estimated using Community Multiscale Air Quality models. The moving averages of air pollution over 7 days were set as exposure variables through exploratory analyses. Linear regression and quantile g-computation models were constructed to assess the effects of individual air pollutants and air pollution mixture, respectively.
A 10-ppb increase in NO (18.8-μg/m increase) and CO (11.5-μg/m increase) was associated with 2.43% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42, 4.48] and 0.19% (95% CI: 0.01, 0.36) higher thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, respectively. A 10-μg/m increase in PM and a 10-ppb increase in O (19.6-μg/m increment) were associated with 0.87% (95% CI: 1.47, -0.27) and 0.59% (95% CI: 1.18, -0.001) lower free thyroxine (fT4) levels, respectively. A simultaneous quartile increase in PM, NO, O, and CO levels was associated with lower fT4 but not TSH levels.
As the subtle changes in thyroid function can affect various organ systems, the present results may have substantial public health implications despite the relatively modest effect sizes. Because this was a cross-sectional study, it is necessary to conduct further experimental or repeated-measures studies to consolidate the current results.
甲状腺功能紊乱会对多个器官系统产生深远影响。然而，有关空气污染与甲状腺功能之间关联的研究相对较少，且大多数研究都集中在孕妇的空气污染长期影响上。
本研究旨在探讨一般人群中短期暴露于空气污染与甲状腺功能之间的关系。
分析了 2013-2015 年韩国国家健康和营养检查调查的数据（n=5626）。使用社区多尺度空气质量模型估算居住地址的空气污染浓度。通过探索性分析，将 7 天内的空气污染移动平均值设置为暴露变量。分别构建线性回归和分位数 g 计算模型来评估单个空气污染物和空气污染混合物的影响。
NO（每增加 18.8-μg/m 增加 2.43%[95%置信区间：0.42，4.48]）和 CO（每增加 11.5-μg/m 增加 0.19%[95%置信区间：0.01，0.36]）浓度增加 10-ppb 与 TSH 水平升高 2.43%[95%置信区间：0.42，4.48]和 0.19%[95%置信区间：0.01，0.36]相关。PM 浓度增加 10-μg/m 和 O 浓度增加 10-ppb 与 fT4 水平降低 0.87%（95%置信区间：1.47，-0.27）和 0.59%（95%置信区间：1.18，-0.001）相关。PM、NO、O 和 CO 水平同时四分位增加与 fT4 水平降低而非 TSH 水平降低相关。
由于甲状腺功能的细微变化会影响多个器官系统，因此尽管效应大小相对较小，但本研究结果可能具有重要的公共卫生意义。由于这是一项横断面研究，因此有必要进行进一步的实验或重复测量研究来巩固当前的结果。
