Each zip code increase of 10 µm/m3 in PM2.5 levels is associated with a doubling in eczema rates among residents, according to data from hundreds of thousands of adults published in PLOS ONE.
In the new study, researchers used data from the U.S. National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program. The current study included 286,862 people for whom there was available demographic, zip code and electronic health record data.
Overall, 12,695 participants (4.4%) were diagnosed with eczema. After controlling for demographics and smoking status, people with eczema were more likely to live in zip codes with high levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, in the air. (PM2.5 describes fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.)
For every increase of 10 µm/m3 in average PM2.5 air pollution in their zip code, people were more than twice as likely to have eczema.
The authors conclude that increased air pollution, as measured by PM2.5, may influence the risk of developing eczema, likely through its effects on the immune system.
“Showing that individuals in the United States who are exposed to particulate matter are more likely to have eczema deepens our understanding of the important health implications of ambient air pollution,” conclude researchers led by Jeffrey Cohen, MD, an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT.
PHOTO CREDIT: Chris LeBoutillier, Unsplash, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
