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Association between PM2.5 and mortality of stomach and colorectal cancer in Xi’an: a time-series study

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Abstract

Globally, fine particulate matter has been associated with several health problems including cancer. However, most studies focused mainly on lung cancer. Stomach and colorectal cancers play significant roles in increasing public health’s cancer globally. This study focused on investigating a possible significant association between exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and mortality due to stomach and colorectal cancer in Xi’an from 2014 to 2016. Using time-series analysis, the study applied both single and multi-pollutant(s) approaches for investigations; PM2.5 was the pollutant of interest. Generalized additive model (GAM) was the core statistical method used with the addition of distributed lag model (DLM) to observe delayed effects. As a single pollutant, PM2.5 was significantly associated with stomach cancer mortality only RR (95%CI): 1.0003 (1.0001, 1.002). For the multi-pollutant analysis, PM2.5 combinations with NO2 were significantly associated with both stomach and colorectal cancer mortality RR (95%CI): 1.0103 (1.009, 1.021) and 1.054 (1.0324, 1.0667), respectively. Also, PM2.5 combination with O3 was significantly associated with colorectal cancer mortality, RR (95%CI): 1.0151 (1.0091, 1.0172), but no association was noted for combination with SO2. Though this study has reported significant associations, it will be beneficial for the public’s health if more studies further investigate the relationship between exposure to PM2.5 and other cancer mortality.

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Acknowledgments

The research team would like to acknowledge the Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention for supporting the study with its data resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Health Science Center, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Crystal Jane Ethan, Kingsley Katleho Mokoena, Yan Yu, Yameng Fan & Jie Rong

  2. Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

    Karabo Shale

  3. Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Feng Liu

Authors
  1. Crystal Jane Ethan
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  2. Kingsley Katleho Mokoena
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  3. Yan Yu
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  4. Karabo Shale
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  5. Yameng Fan
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  6. Jie Rong
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  7. Feng Liu
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Contributions

Crystal Jane Ethan and Yan Yu conceived the idea for the study. Liu Feng was responsible for data provision. Yameng Fan and Jie Rong were responsible for data translation. Crystal Jane Ethan and Kingsley Katleho Mokoena were responsible for running data analysis and writing of the manuscript. Yan Yu and Karabo Shale were responsible for cross-checking the results and the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yan Yu or Feng Liu.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Strengths and limitations

The main strengths of the study include (1) exploring both single and multi-pollutant models in the association of PM2.5 and both stomach and colorectal mortality, and (2) stratifying association results by gender and age. The present study had few limitations, the major one being the unavailability of data from all districts of Xi’an. Data was only available for 6 districts which were mostly urban areas. Secondly, as with most studies, the pollution level was based on city-wide averages and not personal exposure level (since the use of personal exposure monitors are expensive in China). This challenge may limit knowledge of the precise effect of the pollutants since concentration levels can vary from location to location.

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Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Ethan, C.J., Mokoena, K.K., Yu, Y. et al. Association between PM2.5 and mortality of stomach and colorectal cancer in Xi’an: a time-series study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 22353–22363 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08628-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08628-0

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