ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2025
The Joint Effects of Exposure to Ambient Long-term Air Pollution and Short-term Heat on Epigenetic Aging in the Health and Retirement Study.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Climate informed precision health.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Everywhere and every day: the impact of navigating racialization on Black German children's mental health.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Prior research has examined associations of exposure to air pollution and heat with epigenetic alterations separately; however, these 2 exposures commonly used to measure climate change typically co-occur. We examine joint effects of exposure to elevated PM2.5 and heat on DNA methylation. Data come from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study DNA Methylation Sample (N = 3 947) and census tract level annual ambient PM2.5 concentrations and daily heat index data averaged 7 days before blood collection. We used 5 epigenetic aging measures: Horvath, Hannum, PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPACE. Four categories of joint PM2.5 and heat were analyzed: (a = reference) low PM2.5 (<9.2 µg/m3) and low heat (<80 on heat index); (b) low PM2.5 and high heat; (c) high PM2.5 and low heat; and (d) high PM2.5 and high heat. Linear regression models were adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, neighborhood poverty, and cell type. Compared to the reference of low PM2.5 and heat, we found associations of short-term (7-day) high heat and long-term (annual) low PM2.5 with accelerated DNA methylation aging for Horvath (β = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.04, 1.15), Hannum (β = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.20, 1.28), and PhenoAge (β = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.33, 1.52). High PM2.5 and low heat had weaker associations (Horvath β = -0.001, 95% CI: -0.68, 0.68, Hannum β = 0.36, 95% CI: -034, 1.05; PhenoAge β = 0.18, 95% CI: -0.56, 0.92), as did joint effects of high PM2.5 and high heat (Horvath β = 0.11, 95% CI: -0.68, 0.89; Hannum β = 0.42, 95% CI: -0.46, 1.20; PhenoAge β = 0.56, 95% CI: -0.30, 1.42). Exposure to short-term high heat and low air pollution may accelerate epigenetic aging.
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