# Cardiovascular health and exposure to PM2.5 constituents: a multi-cohort study

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $615,182

## Abstract

Project Summary
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the primary cause of death and a major cause of years of life lost in the US
and in the world. Cohort studies conducted in North America and Europe have provided crucial information in
identifying exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as a cause of increased CVD risks. They have
also pointed out important directions for future research, including the differential toxicity of PM2.5 chemical
constituents to CVD incidence, the shape of concentration-response (C-R) functions, impact of exposure time
windows and indoor air pollution exposure. The objectives of our study are to assess the associations between
long-term exposure to PM2.5 constituents and incident CVD, and investigate the impact of exposure time
window and indoor air pollution on these associations. Approach. We will conduct a retrospective multi-cohort
study in China using personal health records from five national cohorts with adjudicated CVD endpoints
maintained by the Fuwai Hospital. To provide individual-level exposure trajectories for ~120,000 cohort
participants during their follow-up period, we will develop an ensemble machine learning model using ground
air quality measurements, satellite data, and air quality model simulations to generate 1 km resolution national
PM2.5 mass and major constituent (sulfates, nitrates, elemental carbon, organic carbon, lead, and nickel)
exposure estimates between 1998 and 2020 (Aim 1). Using cohort data from 2007 to 2020 for our main
analyses, we will use Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the associations of long-term exposures to
PM2.5 constituents and adverse cardiovascular outcomes including total CVD, acute myocardial infarction, and
stroke (Aim 2). Variations of this model will be used to investigate the shape of the C-R functions (linear vs.
non-linear) as well as the impact of exposure errors using exposure estimates between 1998 and 2020 (Aim
2a). We will also examine windows of susceptibility for CVD endpoints using both time-variant and time-
invariant exposure metrics (Aim 2b). Finally, we will evaluate the confounding effect of indoor air pollution on
the C-R functions using a sub-cohort with estimated personal PM2.5 exposure estimates based on Fuwai
Hospital's ongoing Multi-Region Panel Study (Aim 2c). Expected Results. Given the tremendous variability in
PM2.5 constituent concentrations in China over time and space, our findings will contribute new PM2.5
constituent-specific C-R functions in CVD burden calculation in both the US and the world. Our study will also
expand our knowledge on important factors affecting these associations such as exposure window and indoor
air pollution.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10034502
- **Project number:** 1R01ES032140-01
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dongfeng Gu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $615,182
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10034502

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10034502, Cardiovascular health and exposure to PM2.5 constituents: a multi-cohort study (1R01ES032140-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10034502. Licensed CC0.

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