Socioeconomic Inequalities in the External Exposome in European Cohorts: The EXPANSE Project

Socioeconomic inequalities in the exposome have been found to be complex and highly context-specific, but studies have not been conducted in large population-wide cohorts from multiple countries. This study aims to examine the external exposome, encompassing individual and environmental factors influencing health over the life course, and to perform dimension reduction to derive interpretable characterization of the external exposome for multicountry epidemiological studies. Analyzing data from over 25 million individuals across seven European countries including 12 administrative and traditional cohorts, we utilized domain-specific principal component analysis (PCA) to define the external exposome, focusing on air pollution, the built environment, and air temperature. We conducted linear regression to estimate the association between individual- and area-level socioeconomic position and each domain of the external exposome. Consistent exposure patterns were observed within countries, indicating the representativeness of traditional cohorts for air pollution and the built environment. However, cohorts with limited geographical coverage and Southern European countries displayed lower temperature variability, especially in the cold season, compared to Northern European countries and cohorts including a wide range of urban and rural areas. The individual- and area-level socioeconomic determinants (i.e., education, income, and unemployment rate) of the urban exposome exhibited significant variability across the European region, with area-level indicators showing stronger associations than individual variables. While the PCA approach facilitated common interpretations of the external exposome for air pollution and the built environment, it was less effective for air temperature. The diverse socioeconomic determinants suggest regional variations in environmental health inequities, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions across European countries.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Environmental Science & Technology
Published
2024-09-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c01509
Citations
11
Primary Topic
Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.46

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Socioeconomic Inequalities in the External Exposome in European Cohorts: The EXPANSE Project

Payam Dadvand, Christofer Åström, Cathryn C. Tonne, Gerard H. Koppelman et al.
11 citations
Environmental Science & Technology
Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
3.46
article

Socioeconomic Inequalities in the External Exposome in European Cohorts: The EXPANSE Project

Payam Dadvand, Christofer Åström, Cathryn C. Tonne, Gerard H. Koppelman, Zhebin Yu, Kathrin Wolf, Apolline Saucy, Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen, Natàlia Blay, Ulrike Gehring, Roel C.H. Vermeulen, Federica Nobile, Sergio Olmos, Massimo Stafoggia, Anke Huss, Klea Katsouyanni, Petter Ljungman, Erik Melén, Kees de Hoogh, Evangelia Samoli, Dorina Ibi, Rafael de Cid, Konstantina Dimakopoulou, Regina Pickford, Jeroen de Bont, Jelle Vlaanderen, Danielle Vienneau, Jolanda M.A. Boer, Fabián Coloma, Annette Peters
article en
11 citations

Abstract

Socioeconomic inequalities in the exposome have been found to be complex and highly context-specific, but studies have not been conducted in large population-wide cohorts from multiple countries. This study aims to examine the external exposome, encompassing individual and environmental factors influencing health over the life course, and to perform dimension reduction to derive interpretable characterization of the external exposome for multicountry epidemiological studies. Analyzing data from over 25 million individuals across seven European countries including 12 administrative and traditional cohorts, we utilized domain-specific principal component analysis (PCA) to define the external exposome, focusing on air pollution, the built environment, and air temperature. We conducted linear regression to estimate the association between individual- and area-level socioeconomic position and each domain of the external exposome. Consistent exposure patterns were observed within countries, indicating the representativeness of traditional cohorts for air pollution and the built environment. However, cohorts with limited geographical coverage and Southern European countries displayed lower temperature variability, especially in the cold season, compared to Northern European countries and cohorts including a wide range of urban and rural areas. The individual- and area-level socioeconomic determinants (i.e., education, income, and unemployment rate) of the urban exposome exhibited significant variability across the European region, with area-level indicators showing stronger associations than individual variables. While the PCA approach facilitated common interpretations of the external exposome for air pollution and the built environment, it was less effective for air temperature. The diverse socioeconomic determinants suggest regional variations in environmental health inequities, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions across European countries.

Environmental Science & TechnologyVol. 58(37)
University Medical Center Groningen (NL), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH), University of Groningen (NL), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES), University of Basel (CH), Utrecht University (NL), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR), Danderyds sjukhus (SE), Karolinska Institutet (SE), Helmholtz Zentrum München (DE), ASL Roma (IT), Stockholm South General Hospital (SE), National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (NL), Sachs' Children and Youth Hospital (SE), Institut d'Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (ES), Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ES), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (ES), Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 3 (IT), Imperial College London (GB), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), Umeå University (SE)
National Science Foundation, Universität Basel, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Imperial College London, European Commission, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, ZonMw, Universiteit Utrecht, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Hjärt-Lungfonden, Karolinska Institutet, Vetenskapsrådet, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, KWF Kankerbestrijding, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Umeå Universitet, Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Regione Lazio, Vlaamse regering, Lung Foundation Netherlands, Grifols, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Medical Research Council, World Cancer Research Fund, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, H2020 Health
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
3.46
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.