Exposure to fine dust may raise blood levels of LDL cholesterol, not just harm respiratory health, according to a South Korean study. The link was especially pronounced among women aged 50 and older.
A research team led by professors Lee Won-chul and Kim Hyun-il of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital published the findings in an international journal, the medical community said on the 4th. The team analyzed data on 14,867 adults from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2016 through 2022, examining the relationship between fine dust exposure and high LDL cholesterol.
Fine dust is a known risk factor for asthma, lung disease and other respiratory illnesses. But little research has examined how it affects lipid metabolism in the blood, or how the risk varies with the length of exposure.
The team used air monitoring network data from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment to determine fine dust and ultrafine dust exposure levels by the residential area of each participant, then compared those levels with the risk of developing high LDL cholesterol.
The results showed that the risk of high LDL cholesterol rose with fine dust exposure. Based on one day of exposure, the risk increased 14.3%. For exposure over six months, the increase was largest at 22.8%.
Ultrafine dust produced similar results. One day of exposure was associated with a 9.7% higher risk of high LDL cholesterol, rising to 16.6% for six months of exposure.
The link between fine dust and rising LDL cholesterol was clearest among women aged 50 and older living in urban areas.
"Women aged 50 and older lose some of the vascular protection they had, because of hormonal changes after menopause," the research team said. "Declining metabolic function with age and cumulative lifetime exposure also appear to have played a combined role."
"We confirmed that the risk of high cholesterol can rise by more than 20% at most, even within the range in which airborne fine dust concentrations fluctuate on an ordinary day," Kim said. "On days when fine dust levels are high, people should be sure to wear a mask or limit outdoor activity, and they should also pay attention to managing indoor air quality."
The findings were published in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, an international journal in the field of environmental and occupational medicine.
