Assessing the impact of an aerial chronic urban pollution (UP) on some facial signs of differently-aged Chinese men.

Abstract

To assess the impact of an aerial chronic urban pollution (UP) on the severities of some facial signs of Chinese men living in two close but differently polluted Chinese cities. Standardized digital photographs were taken on 201 subjects from two cohorts of Chinese men (100 inhabitants of Baoding/very polluted and 101 inhabitants of Dalian/less polluted) differently aged (20-60years) allowing a focus on 17 different facial signs. The latter were graded by 15 experts, using a clinical referential skin atlas. A questionnaire was filled by all subjects collecting their habits and uses with regard sun-exposures and skincare products. A naïve panel of 80 Chinese women, of comparable ages, attributed a perceived age to each subject under blind conditions. These confirm previous data obtained on Chinese women, with a similar protocol, i.e. that some facial signs show an increased severity in the more polluted city. However, changes in facial signs, with age, are of a different pattern according to gender. In Chinese men, most signs show early onsets with however low age-related changes, inversely to those observed in women, at the exception of vascular disorders. Habits of sun-exposures and uses of skincare product were found totally similar in both cohorts, reinforcing the specific role of UP in the progressive changes of facial signs. Similar to the results previously obtained on Chinese women, men living in a more polluted city were judged older than those living in a less polluted aerial environment. The present work confirms that a more severe UP increases the severities of some facial signs in Chinese men.