Fine Particulate Matter in Air Pollution & Autoimmune Disease

While air pollution has been linked to systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, scientists know less about the impacts of fine particulate matter, particles that are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, that is in air pollution. 

To explore this, researchers used serum samples from over 3,500 participants in the Ontario Health Study general population cohort. The Ontario Health Study is a broad population study that looks at how lifestyle, the environment, and genetics affect health. For each sample, the scientists looked at the levels of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a biomarker linked with autoimmune disease. They correlated ANA levels to fine particulate matter levels based on the participant’s zip code.

The researchers found that fine particulate matter exposure was associated with high levels of ANA and think that it’s possible that fine particulate matter can change systemic immunity. This research adds to the growing body of evidence that air pollution affects the body beyond just the heart and the lungs.

Citations

Zhao, N., Smargiassi, A., Chen, H., Choi, M. Y., Fritzler, M. J., Touma, Z., Antonio Aviña-Zubieta, J., & Bernatsky, S. (2025). Fine particulate matter air pollution and anti-nuclear antibodies. Rheumatology (Oxford, England), keaf545. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keaf545

Kirsh, V. A., Skead, K., McDonald, K., Kreiger, N., Little, J., Menard, K., McLaughlin, J., Mukherjee, S., Palmer, L. J., Goel, V., Purdue, M. P., & Awadalla, P. (2023). Cohort Profile: The Ontario Health Study (OHS). International journal of epidemiology, 52(2), e137–e151. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyac156