ArticlePloS one2016
Biomarkers of Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Cognitive Function among Elderly in the United States (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: 2001-2002).
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Air Pollution and Cognitive Impairment across the Life Course in Humans: A Systematic Review with Specific Focus on Income Level of Study Area.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on cognitive function and neurodegeneration in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Twenty-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study of Cancer Incidence and Mortality Among Workers in Two Primary Aluminum Prebake Smelters.American journal of industrial medicine · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific Biological Aging-Related Lipidomic Profiles Mediate the Impact of Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposures on Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Associations of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with hearing in U.S. Adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Burden of Meats Singed with Different Fuel Sources from Abattoirs in Ghana and Associated Cancer Risk Assessment.Environmental health insights · 2025Article
- The Epidemiological and Toxicological Intersection of Air Pollution and Dementia.Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology · 2025Review
- Public Health Effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Exposure Through Air, Water, Soil, and Food in Ghana: Possible Economic Burden.Environmental health insights · 2025Review
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Mediate the Association between Tobacco Smoking and Alcohol Use Disorder.Yonsei medical journal · 2024Article
- Air Pollution as an Environmental Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias.Medical research archives · 2024Article
- Environmental contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and contribution from biomonitoring studies to the surveillance of global health.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2024Review
- Article
- Assessing the contribution of the chemical exposome to neurodegenerative disease.Nature neuroscience · 2024Article
- Behavioral Impairments and Increased Risk of Cortical Atrophy Risk Scores Among World Trade Center Responders.Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology · 2024Article
- Health literacy mediates the relationships of cognitive and physical functions with health-related quality of life in older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites were associated with short sleep duration and self-reported trouble sleeping in US adults: data from NHANES 2005-2016 study population.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The relationship between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure and serum klotho among adult population.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Associations and dose-response relationships between different kinds of urine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites and adult lung functions.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Article
- Cognitive impairment and World Trade Centre-related exposures.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2022Review
- Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites are positively related to serum testosterone levels of males and serum estradiol levels of females among U.S. adults.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Recent studies report a link between common environmental exposures, such as particulate matter air pollution and tobacco smoke, and decline in cognitive function. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a selected group of chemicals present in particulate matter and tobacco smoke, and measures of cognitive performance among elderly in the general population. This cross-sectional analysis involved data from 454 individuals aged 60 years and older from the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The association between PAH exposures (as measured by urinary biomarkers) and cognitive function (digit symbol substitution test (DSST)) was assessed using multiple linear regression analyses. After adjusting for age, socio-economic status and diabetes we observed a negative association between urinary 1-hydroxypyrene, the gold standard of PAH exposure biomarkers, and DSST score. A one percent increase in urinary 1-hydroxypyrene resulted in approximately a 1.8 percent poorer performance on the digit symbol substitution test. Our findings are consistent with previous publications and further suggest that PAHs, at least in part may be responsible for the adverse cognitive effects linked to tobacco smoke and particulate matter air pollution.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.