Airborne chloride exposure and benign prostatic hyperplasia risk
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Given that airborne chloride (Cl⁻), is an understudied component of particulate matter that may drive oxidative and inflammatory pathways, yet its long-term association with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to airborne chloride and the risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia among middle-aged and older Chinese men. RESULTS: We utilized nationally representative data from 5,452 males aged 45 years and older in the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and correlated it with province-level chloride exposure estimates from the China High Air Pollutants (CHAP) dataset. Mixed-effects logistic regression models incorporating province-level random intercepts were employed. Elevated ambient Cl⁻ exposure was consistently linked to heightened risks of BPH in both unadjusted and fully adjusted models. In the comprehensively adjusted model, each 1 µg/m³ increment in Cl⁻ correlated with a 26% rise in the risks of BPH (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.07-1.49; p < 0.05). The robustness and temporal consistency of the findings were confirmed by sensitivity analyses that employed Z-score standardized Cl⁻ and lagged exposures from 2013 to 2015. These results suggest airborne chloride may be a novel environmental risk factor for BPH.
Source: BMC Research Notes
Authors: JiaHao Shi, Anuchit Phanumartwiwath
Institutions: Chulalongkorn University, Miva Open University
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,690
Funder: Peking University
OpenAlex ID: W4415648479