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Long-term residential exposure to air pollution and Hodgkin lymphoma risk among adults in Denmark: a population-based case–control study

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Abstract

Purpose

The etiology of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is obscure. Research on air pollution and risk of HL provides inconsistent results. We aimed to investigate the association between long-term residential exposure to air pollution and risk of adult Hodgkin lymphoma in Denmark.

Methods

We performed a nationwide register-based case–control study, including all (n = 2,681) Hodgkin lymphoma cases registered in the nationwide Danish Cancer Registry between 1989 and 2014. We randomly selected 8,853 age- and sex-matched controls from the entire Danish population using the Civil Registration System, and identified 20-year residential address history for all cases and controls. We modeled outdoor air pollution concentrations at all these addresses using the high-resolution multiscale air pollution model system DEHM/UBM/AirGIS. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios adjusted for individual and neighborhood level sociodemographic variables.

Results

There was no association between 1, 5, 10, and 20 years’ time-weighted average exposure to fine particles (PM2.5), O3, SO2, NO2, or the PM2.5 constituents OC, NH4, NO3, and SO4 and risk of Hodgkin lymphoma.

Conclusion

Residential exposure to ambient air pollution does not seem to increase the risk of developing Hodgkin lymphoma.

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Data Availability

Access to the data of Statistics Denmark can be obtained if approved by Statics Denmark. Requirements include compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the Danish Data Protection Act.

Code availability

Study code is not publicly available.

Abbreviations

NO2 :

Nitrogen di-oxide

SO2 :

Sulphur dioxide

O3 :

Ozone

PM:

Particulate matter

BC:

Primary emitted black carbon

OC:

Primary emitted organic carbon

SOA:

Secondary organic aerosols

SIA:

Secondary inorganic aerosols

NH4 :

Ammonium

NO3 :

Nitrate

SO4 :

Sulphate

HL:

Hodgkin lymphoma

SLE:

Systemic lupus erythematosus

EBV:

Epstein-Barr virus

TWA:

Time weighted average

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Acknowledgments

The research was funded by Nordforsk under the Nordic Programme on Health and Welfare (Project #75007: NordicWelfAir—Understanding the link between Air pollution and Distribution of related Health Impacts and Welfare in the Nordic countries). The funding source had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation, writing and decision to submit for publication.

Funding

The research was funded by Nordforsk under the Nordic Programme on Health and Welfare (Project #75007: NordicWelfAir Understanding the link between Air pollution and Distribution of related Health Impacts and Welfare in the Nordic countries).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Diet, Genes and Environment Strandboulevarden 49, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Tahir Taj, Aslak Harbo Poulsen, Ulla Arthur Hvidtfeldt, Mette Sørensen & Ole Raaschou-Nielsen

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Matthias Ketzel, Camilla Geels, Jørgen Brandt, Jesper Heile Christensen & Ole Raaschou-Nielsen

  3. Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

    Matthias Ketzel

  4. Department of Natural Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Mette Sørensen

Authors
  1. Tahir Taj
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  2. Aslak Harbo Poulsen
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  9. Ole Raaschou-Nielsen
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Contributions

ORN and MS conceived and designed the study. ORN and UAH participated in acquisition of population data and sociodemographic data. MK, CG, JB, JHC participated in modeling of air pollution and exposure assessment. TT, AHP, ORN planned the statistical analyses. TT, AHP performed record linkages, data processing and statistical analyses. TT drafted the manuscript. All authors participated in the interpretation of the data, commented on the manuscript and approved the final manuscript for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tahir Taj.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was entirely register-based. Therefore, in accordance with Danish law, no ethical approval was needed.

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Taj, T., Poulsen, A.H., Ketzel, M. et al. Long-term residential exposure to air pollution and Hodgkin lymphoma risk among adults in Denmark: a population-based case–control study. Cancer Causes Control 32, 935–942 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-021-01446-w

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