Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21465749›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2010

Annual ambient black carbon associated with shorter telomeres in elderly men: Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study.

John McCracken, Andrea Baccarelli, Mirjam Hoxha, Laura Dioni, Steve Melly, Brent Coull, Helen Suh, Pantel Vokonas, Joel Schwartz

Erratum issuedOpen access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 50 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed
5.7field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

50 citing papers in PubMed, 136 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Air pollution and alveolar health.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Prenatal PMToxics · 2022
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Long- and Short-Term Exposures to PMLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021
    Article
  12. Traffic Density-Related Black Carbon Distribution: Impact of Wind in a Basin Town.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  13. Assessment of Home-Based and Mobility-Based Exposure to Black Carbon in an Urban Environment: A Pilot Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Observational
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

John McCrackenDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Building, 415 West, 401 Park Dr., Boston, MA 02215, USA. jmccrack@hsph.harvard.edu
Andrea Baccarelli
Mirjam Hoxha
Laura Dioni
Steve Melly
Brent Coull
Helen Suh
Pantel Vokonas
Joel Schwartz
University of Milan · ITBoston University · USHarvard University · USMassachusetts Department of Public Health · US

Funding

Translational Research Support CoreP30ES000002 · NIEHS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI SUSAN A KORRICK · 1985 to 2026
$44.6M
Effect of Ambient Particles on Acute Stroke OnsetP01ES009825 · NIEHS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI GOLD, DIANE R · 1999 to 2009
$17.4M
Epigenetic Effects of Particles and Metals on Cardiac Health of an Aging CohortR01ES015172 · NIEHS · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI SCHWARTZ, JOEL D · 2006 to 2015
$4.8M
Cardiovascular Effects of Particles:The Role of Oxidative Stress and Metal PathwR01ES014663 · NIEHS · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI SCHWARTZ, JOEL D · 2008 to 2011
$1.9M
NIEHS NIH HHS ES-0002NIEHS NIH HHS ES009825NIEHS NIH HHS ES014663NIEHS NIH HHS P01 ES009825NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES000002NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES014663NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES015172NIEHS NIH HHS R01-ES015172
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTelomere length reflects biological age and is inversely associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Ambient air pollution is associated with CVD, but its effect on telomere length is unknown.

objectiveWe investigated whether ambient black carbon (BC), a marker for traffic-related particles, is associated with telomere length in the Normative Aging Study (NAS).

methodsAmong 165 never-smoking men from the NAS, leukocyte telomere length (LTL) was measured repeatedly approximately every 3 years from 1999 through 2006 using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). BC concentration at their residences during the year before each LTL measurement was estimated based on a spatiotemporal model calibrated with BC measurements from 82 locations within the study area.

resultsThe median [interquartile range (IQR)] annual moving-average BC concentration was 0.32 (0.20-0.45) microg/m3. LTL, expressed as population-standardized ratio of telomere repeat to single-copy gene copy numbers, had a geometric mean (geometric SD) of 1.25 (1.42). We used linear mixed-effects models including random subject intercepts and adjusted for several potential confounders. We used inverse probability of response weighting to adjust for potential selection bias due to loss to follow-up. An IQR increase in annual BC (0.25 microg/m3) was associated with a 7.6% decrease (95% confidence interval, -12.8 to -2.1) in LTL. We found evidence of effect modification, with a stronger association among subjects > or = 75 years of age compared with younger participants (p = 0.050) and statin medications appearing protective of the effects of BC on LTL (p = 0.050).

conclusionsTelomere attrition, linked to biological aging, may be associated with long-term exposures to airborne particles, particularly those rich in BC, which are primarily related to automobile traffic.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAgingAir PollutantsAir PollutionBiomarkersCardiovascular DiseasesEnvironmental MonitoringEpidemiological MonitoringHumansInhalation ExposureLinear ModelsMaleMiddle AgedRisk FactorsSootAir PollutantsBiomarkersSoot

Identifiers

PMID21465749
PMCPMC2974694
OpenAlexW2134436537

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC0
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.