Association between ambient NO<sub>2</sub> exposure and health status in a floating population: findings from 338 cities in China

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1881-7

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (10) : 121 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1881-7

Association between ambient NO₂ exposure and health status in a floating population: findings from 338 cities in China

Yukun Shi¹, Yang Zhao^2,^3,⁴, Guangcheng Wang¹, Jikai Xia⁵, Luyang Wang¹, Hongyu Li¹, Wenhui Gao¹, Shijia Yuan¹, Ronghang Liu¹, Surong Zhao¹, Chunlei Han¹(

)

¹. School of Public Health, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
². School of Health Management, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
³. The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
⁴. The George Institute for Global Health, Beijing 100600, China
⁵. Department of Radiology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264100, China

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Abstract

● Ambient NO₂ may be associated with self-rated health (SRH) in floating populations.

● NO₂ exposure was associated with an increased risk of poor SRH.

● Each grade increment of annual average NO₂ increased the risk of poor SRH 2.4%.

● Floating individuals aged 31–49 years were at highest risk of NO₂ associated SRH.

● Risk of NO₂ associated SRH was higher in regions with mid-level per capita GDP.

Few studies investigated the effects of exposure to NO₂ on health status in the Chinese floating population. The present cross-sectional study evaluated the association of ambient NO₂ with health status in a floating population in China. Data on 168961 floating individuals in 338 cities were obtained from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey. The association between exposure to NO₂ and self-related health (SRH) status was assessed by binary logistic regression analysis, both in the entire subject cohort and in subgroups assorted by socioeconomic levels and demographic characteristics. The robustness of the associations between NO₂ exposure and health status was evaluated by sensitivity analyses. Each grade increment of annual average NO₂ exposure was found to increase the risk of poor SRH by 2.4% in the floating population (odds ratio [OR] = 1.024, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.011–1.038). When subgrouped by age, subjects in the floating population aged 31–49 years had the highest NO₂ associated health risk (OR = 1.036, 95% CI: 1.018–1.054). When subgrouped by per capita gross domestic product (PGDP), subjects in regions with mid-level PDGP had the highest NO₂ associated SRH (OR = 1.116, 95% CI: 1.091–1.141). These findings indicated that exposure to NO₂ increases the risk of poor SRH in the floating population, with individuals aged 31–49 years and those living in mid-level PGDP regions being more sensitive to the adverse effects of NO₂. More effective strategies to reduce air pollution may improve the health status of the floating population in China.

Keywords Air pollution NO₂ Floating population Health status China

Corresponding Author(s): Chunlei Han

Issue Date: 02 August 2024

Cite this article:

Yukun Shi,Yang Zhao,Guangcheng Wang, et al. Association between ambient NO₂ exposure and health status in a floating population: findings from 338 cities in China[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(10): 121.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1881-7
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I10/121

Tab.1 Values assigned to variables in the regression model

Tab.2 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of subjects in the floating population

Tab.3 Concentrations of pollutants, meteorological variables in cities, and residence time of the floating population

Tab.4 Spearman correlation coefficients of the associations between pollutants and meteorological conditions

Variables	Categories	SRH		$χ 2 /$ H	p-value
Variables	Categories	Poor	Good	$χ 2 /$ H	p-value
NO₂	< 27.43 µg/m³	33386	8513	436.773^*	< 0.001
	27.43–37.99 µg/m³ (including 37.99)	35935	7553
	37.99–44.66 µg/m³	35088	6134
	≥ 44.66 µg/m³	34580	7772
Temperature	≤ 10 °C	31670	8925	663.956	< 0.001
	10–20 °C	89230	17382
	≥ 20 °C	18089	3665
Relative humidity	≤ 40 %	613	146	44.490	< 0.001
	40%–60%	50690	11531
	≥ 60 %	87686	18295
Gender	Male	72243	14913	55.223	< 0.001
Gender	Female	66546	15059	55.223	< 0.001
Marital status	Not-single	112546	26129	644.889	< 0.001
Marital status	Single	26443	3843	644.889	< 0.001
Age	≤ 30 years	53478	5562	10503.324^*	< 0.001
	31–49 years	73068	15815
	≥ 50 years	12443	8595
Income	≤ 2000 yuan	4956	2715	2256.491^*	< 0.001
	2000–5000 yuan	37428	9561
	≥ 5000 yuan	96605	17696
Education	Primary and below	19776	8864	4578.670^*	< 0.001
	Junior high school	61341	12421
	Senior school/secondary specialized school	31716	5352
	College and above	26156	3335
Region	Western	47097	11637	1034.154	< 0.001
	Central	28657	7701
	Eastern	63235	10634
Chronic disease	None	131410	28345	0.050	0.975
	Hypertension or diabetes	6834	1469
	Hypertension and diabetes	745	158
Occupation	White-collar workers	14216	1865	3386.414	< 0.001
	Business and service workers	70560	12921
	Production, transportation and operation workers	25667	4435
	Other workers and uncertain	28546	10751

Tab.5 Factors influencing SRH in the floating population

Tab.6 Regression analysis of the associations of NO₂ exposure, meteorological conditions and demographic factors with SRH in the floating population

Fig.1 Forest plot showing the effects of gender, age and socioeconomic levels on the risk of poor SRH in the floating population. Notes: OR, odds ratio for each grade increment in annual average NO₂; CI, confidence interval; PGDP, GDP per capita.

Tab.7 Sensitivity analyses of effects of NO₂ exposure on SRH

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