Traffic-related air pollution and sleep in the Boston Area Community Health Survey

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Shona C. Fang, New England Research Institutes; Joel Schwartz, Harvard University; May Yang, New England Research Institutes; H. Klar Yaggi, Yale University; Donald Bliwise, Emory University; Andre B. Araujo, New England Research Institutes
• Language: English
• Date: 2015-09-01
• Publisher: Springer Nature [academic journals on nature.com]: Hybrid Journals
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2015 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jes.2014.47
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
• ISSN: 1559-0631
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 5
• Start Page: 451
• End Page: 456
• Grant/Funding Information: Funding for this research was provided by a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities R21MD006769.
• Keywords: TIME-SERIES; PARTICLES; Environmental Sciences; epidemiology; ASSOCIATION; SECONDHAND SMOKE EXPOSURE; Science & Technology; environmental; Toxicology; black carbon; PASSIVE SMOKING; particulate matter; PARTICULATE MATTER; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE; sleep apnea; DURATION; MORTALITY; BLACK CARBON EXPOSURE; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; community; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
• Research Categories: Environmental Sciences; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Little is known about environmental determinants of sleep. We investigated the association between black carbon (BC), a marker of traffic-related air pollution, and sleep measures among participants of the Boston Area Community Health Survey. We also sought to assess the impact of sociodemographic factors, health conditions, and season on associations. Residential 24-h BC was estimated from a validated land-use regression model for 3821 participants and averaged over 1-6 months and 1 year. Sleep measures included questionnaire-assessed sleep duration, sleep latency, and sleep apnea. Linear and logistic regression models controlling for confounders estimated the association between sleep measures and BC. Effect modification was tested with interaction terms. Main effects were not observed between BC and sleep measures. However, in stratified models, males experienced 0.23 h less sleep (95% CI: -0.42, -0.03) and those with low SES 0.25 h less sleep (95% CI: -0.48, -0.01) per IQR increase in annual BC (0.21 μg/m³). In blacks, sleep duration increased with annual BC (β=0.34 per IQR; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.57). Similar findings were observed for short sleep (≤5 h). BC was not associated with sleep apnea or sleep latency, however, long-term exposure may be associated with shorter sleep duration, particularly in men and those with low SES, and longer sleep duration in blacks.