Abstract
Atmospheric air pollution has been associated with a range of adverse health effects. The environment plays a causative role in the development of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). The aim of the present study is to explore the association between particulate (PM10) and benzene (B) exposure in Italian patients with systemic sclerosis and their clinical characteristics of the disease. A correlation study was conducted by enrolling 88 patients who suffer from SSc at the Fondazione Policlinico “A. Gemelli” in Rome (Italy) in the period from January 2013 to January 2014. The average mean concentrations of B (in 11 monitoring sites) and PM10 (in 14 sites) were calculated using data from the Regional Environmental Protection Agency’s monitoring stations located throughout the Lazio region (Italy) and then correlated with the clinical characteristics of the SSc patients. Of the study sample, 92.5% were female. The mean age was 55 ± 12.9 years old and the mean disease duration from the onset of Raynaud’s phenomenon was 13.0 ± 9.4 years. The Spearman’s correlation showed that concentrations of B correlate directly with the skin score (R = 0.3; p ≤ 0.05) and inversely with Diffusing Lung Carbon Monoxide (DLCO) results (R = −0.36; p = 0.04). This study suggests a possible role of B in the development of diffuse skin disease and in a worse progression of the lung manifestations of SSc.
Highlights
Atmospheric air pollution had been associated with a range of adverse health effects, mortality and morbidity due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases [1]
There are critical issues in establishing an association between exposure and disease outcome in rare chronic diseases such as scleroderma [15], our study suggests that environmental
There are critical issues in establishing an association between exposure and disease exposure, in particular to B, could influence the severity of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). The association between this disease outcome in rare chronic diseases such as scleroderma [15], our study suggests that environmental exposure, in particular to B, could influence the severity of SSc
Summary
Atmospheric air pollution had been associated with a range of adverse health effects, mortality and morbidity due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases [1]. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown the higher incidence of these diseases in populations living in close proximity to highways, airports, and zones of high-density urban traffic [1,2]. Current evidence supports an interactive chain of events linking pulmonary and systemic pollution-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory events, and translocation of particle constituents with an associated risk of vascular dysfunction, atherosclerosis, altered cardiac autonomic function, as well as ischemic cardiovascular and obstructive pulmonary diseases [3]. Fine particle pollution, such as particulate matter with a diameter ≤10 μm (PM10 ), is strongly associated with an increased risk of. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 1297; doi:10.3390/ijerph14111297 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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