ArticleEpidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)2020
Within-city Spatial Variations in Ambient Ultrafine Particle Concentrations and Incident Brain Tumors in Adults.
Article in Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of Pollution on Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Focus on Air Pollution.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis on the health effects of long-term exposure to ultrafine particles.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Pooled it
- "We adjusted for race": now what? A systematic review of utilization and reporting of race in American Journal of Epidemiology and Epidemiology, 2020-2021.Epidemiologic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- From Air to Brain: Environmental Nanoparticles as Modifiable Risk Factors for Neurodevelopmental, Neurodegenerative, and Mental Disorders.ACS omega · 2026Review
- A Physiological Microfluidic Blood-Brain-Barrier Model for In Vitro Study of Nanoparticle Trafficking and Accumulation.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Sector-specific Long-term Associations Between Transportation, Industrial, and Residential Combustion Air Pollutant Mixtures (PMEnvironmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Racial and ethnic differences in the impact of air pollution on the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in the Multiethnic Cohort Study.Environment international · 2026Article
- Detection of cancer epigenetic alterations in a pilot cohort of workers exposed to TiOFrontiers in toxicology · 2026Article
- Case Report: Glioblastoma in cohabiting partners: a molecularly characterized temporal cluster.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Within-city spatiotemporal variations in outdoor ultrafine particles and emergency room visits for cardiovascular outcomes.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- A physiological microfluidic blood-brain-barrier model for in vitro study of nanoparticle trafficking and accumulation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Environmental Hazards and Glial Brain Tumors: Association or Causation?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Pathways to the Brain: Impact of Fine Particulate Matter Components on the Central Nervous System.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Ultrafine particles and late-life cognitive function: Influence of stationary mobile monitoring design on health inferences.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2025Article
- Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Inhaled Ultrafine Particles on Blood Markers of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Glioma mutational signatures associated with haloalkane exposure are enriched in firefighters.Cancer · 2025Article
- What is the relationship between exposure to environmental pollutants and severe mental disorders? A systematic review on shared biological pathways.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- Airborne Nanoparticle Concentrations Are Associated with Increased Mortality Risk in Canada's Two Largest Cities.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2024Article
- Local exposure misclassification in national models: relationships with urban infrastructure and demographics.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2024Article
- Predicting within-city spatiotemporal variations in daily median outdoor ultrafine particle number concentrations and size in Montreal and Toronto, Canada.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAmbient ultrafine particles (UFPs, <0.1 µm) can reach the human brain, but to our knowledge, epidemiologic studies have yet to evaluate the relation between UFPs and incident brain tumors.
methodsWe conducted a cohort study of within-city spatial variations in ambient UFPs across Montreal and Toronto, Canada, among 1.9 million adults included in multiple cycles of the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts (1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006). UFP exposures (3-year moving averages) were assigned to residential locations using land-use regression models with exposures updated to account for residential mobility within and between cities. We followed cohort members for malignant brain tumors (ICD-10 codes C71.0-C71.9) between 2001 and 2016; Cox proportional hazards models (stratified by age, sex, immigration status, and census cycle) were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) adjusting for fine particle mass concentrations (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and various sociodemographic factors.
resultsIn total, we identified 1,400 incident brain tumors during the follow-up period. Each 10,000/cm increase in UFPs was positively associated with brain tumor incidence (HR = 1.112, 95% CI = 1.042, 1.188) after adjusting for PM2.5, NO2, and sociodemographic factors. Applying an indirect adjustment for cigarette smoking and body mass index strengthened this relation (HR = 1.133, 95% CI = 1.032, 1.245). PM2.5 and NO2 were not associated with an increased incidence of brain tumors.
conclusionsAmbient UFPs may represent a previously unrecognized risk factor for incident brain tumors in adults. Future studies should aim to replicate these results given the high prevalence of UFP exposures in urban areas.
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