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The association between short-term ambient air pollution and acne vulgaris outpatient visits: a hospital-based time-series analysis in Xi’an

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Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that exposure to ambient airborne pollutants is associated with inflammatory skin diseases, but the epidemiological evidence regarding the association between air pollution and acne vulgaris is limited. To address that, a hospital-based time-series analysis was conducted in Xi’an, a metropolitan in northwest China. A total of 71,625 outpatient visits for acne from 2010 to 2013 were identified. The mean daily concentrations of PM10, SO2, and NO2 were 142.6 μg/m3, 44.7 μg/m3, and 48.5 μg/m3, and all were higher than WHO air quality guidelines. A generalized additive model was used to analyze the relationship between short-term ambient air pollution exposure and outpatient visits for acne. The gender- and age-specific analyses were conducted as well. The results showed that the increase of SO2 and NO2 concentrations corresponded to a significant rise in the number of outpatient visits for acne at lag 0 in both single-lag and cumulative exposure models. Both SO2 and NO2 were positively associated with acne outpatient visits for both males and females. In age-specific analyses, the effect estimate of PM10 was only significant for adults over 30 years old; SO2 was significantly associated with acne visits in children and adolescents (<21 years) and young adults (21–30 years); and NO2 was significantly associated with acne visits in all age subgroups. In conclusion, short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants (PM10, SO2, or NO2) with the average levels above WHO limits was associated with increased risk of outpatient visits for both teenage acne and adult acne. Moreover, the effects of air pollutants may vary with age.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

Yuan-Gang Lu is the primary corresponding author, and Tong-Jian Cai is the secondary corresponding author.

Funding

This work was supported by the [Innovative Training Program Foundation for the Talents] by the Daping Hospital under Grant [No.2019CXJSC034]; [Outstanding Talent Support Program of Army Medical University] without grant number; and [Research and innovation projects of graduate students in Chongqing] under Grant [No. CYS20367].

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Author notes

  1. Xiang Li, Yi Cao and Shu-Jie An contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery, Daping Hospital, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

    Xiang Li & Yuan-Gang Lu

  2. Department of Epidemiology, College of Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), 30 Gaotanyan Main Street, Shapingba, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China, 400038

    Xiang Li, Ying Xiang, Bin Xu, Yao Zhang, Ya-Fei Li & Tong-Jian Cai

  3. Department of Health Economics Management, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University (Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

    Yi Cao

  4. Medical Department, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University (Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

    Shu-Jie An

  5. Department of Social Medicine and Health Service Management, College of Preventive Medicine, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

    He-Xiang Huang

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  1. Xiang Li
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Contributions

Xiang Li: formal analysis, investigation, funding acquisition, writing—original draft. Yi Cao: investigation, data curation, resources. Shu-Jie An: investigation, data curation, resources. Ying Xiang: investigation. He-Xiang Huang: investigation. Bin Xu: validation. Yao Zhang: validation. Ya-Fei Li: validation. Yuan-Gang Lu: supervision, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. Tong-Jian Cai: conceptualization, supervision, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Yuan-Gang Lu or Tong-Jian Cai.

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The protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee of Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University) and complied with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Li, X., Cao, Y., An, SJ. et al. The association between short-term ambient air pollution and acne vulgaris outpatient visits: a hospital-based time-series analysis in Xi’an. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 14624–14633 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16607-2

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