Joel D Kaufman

University of Washington Seattle | UW · Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

BACKGROUND Exposure to metals has been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) end points and mortality, yet prospective evidence is limited beyond arsenic, cadmium, and lead. In this study, we assessed the prospective association of urinary metals with incident CVD and all-cause mortality in a racially diverse population of US adults from MES...

Background: Increased exposure to ambient air pollution, especially fine particulate matter ≤2.5μm (PM2.5) is associated with poorer brain health and increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias. The locus coeruleus (LC), located in the brainstem, is one of the earliest regions affected by tau pathology seen in AD. Its diffuse...

Background: Evidence linking gaseous air pollution to late-life brain health is mixed. Objective: We explored associations between exposure to gaseous pollutants and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers among Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study participants, with attention to the influence of exposure estimation method and...

Importance Air pollution is a recognized risk factor associated with chronic diseases, including respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, which can lead to physical and cognitive impairments in later life. Although these losses of function, individually or in combination, reduce individuals’ likelihood of living independently, little is known abo...

Objectives To examine whether long-term air pollution exposure is associated with central hemodynamic and brachial artery stiffness parameters. Methods We assessed central hemodynamic parameters including central blood pressure, cardiac parameters, systemic vascular compliance and resistance, and brachial artery stiffness measures [including brach...

Background Growing evidence links air pollution exposure to the risk of dementia. We hypothesized that hypertension may partially mediate this effect. Methods We previously documented an association between air pollution and dementia in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 3069 adults ≥75 years across fo...

Prediabetes is a heterogenous metabolic state with various risks for development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study, we used genetic data on 7,227 US Hispanic/Latino participants without diabetes from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) and 400,149 non-Hispanic White participants without diabetes from the UK Biobank...

Rationale: It is unknown whether air pollution is associated with radiographic features of interstitial lung disease in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objectives: To determine whether air pollution increases prevalence of interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) or percent high-attenuation area (HAA) on computed tomo...

Rationale: Individuals with COPD have airflow obstruction and maldistribution of ventilation. For those living at high altitude, any gas exchange abnormality is compounded by reduced partial pressures of inspired oxygen. Objectives: Does residence at higher-altitude exposure affect COPD outcomes, including lung function, imaging characteristics,...

Background: Environmental exposure to metals is widespread yet preventable and has been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) endpoints, although evidence from prospective studies with racial and ethnic diversity is limited. Objective: We assessed the prospective association of urinary metals with incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and CV...

Objective: Growing evidence indicates that exposure to metals are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that higher urinary levels of metals with prior evidence of an association with CVD, including non-essential (cadmium , tungsten, and uranium) and essential (cobalt, copper, and zinc) metals are associated with baseline a...

Inequities in urban greenspace have been identified, though patterns by race and socioeconomic status vary across US settings. We estimated the magnitude of the relationship between a broad mixture of neighborhood-level factors and residential greenspace using weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and compared predictive models of greenspace usin...

Background: In contrast to fine particles, less is known of the inflammatory and coagulation impacts of coarse particulate matter (PM10-2.5, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10μm and>2.5μm). Toxicological research suggests that these pathways might be important processes by which PM10-2.5 impacts health, but there are relatively few e...

Background Outdoor air pollution is a ubiquitous exposure that includes endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic compounds that may contribute to the risk of hormone-sensitive outcomes such as uterine cancer. However, there is limited evidence about the relationship between outdoor air pollution and uterine cancer incidence. Methods We investigated t...

Background Green space exposures may promote child mental health and well-being across multiple domains and stages of development. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between residential green space exposures and child mental and behavioral health at age 4–6 years. Methods Children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors in t...

Rationale: Airway tree morphology varies in the general population and may modify the distribution and uptake of inhaled pollutants. Objectives: We hypothesized that smaller airway caliber would be associated with emphysema progression and would increase susceptibility to air pollutant-associated emphysema progression. Methods: The Multi-Ethni...

Background: Air pollutants may contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease (PD), but empirical evidence is limited and inconsistent. Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively investigate the associations of PD with ambient exposures to fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5μm (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Meth...

Background While epidemiologic evidence links higher levels of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to decreased cognitive function, fewer studies have investigated links with traffic-related air pollution (TRAP), and none have examined ultrafine particles (UFP, ≤100 nm) and late-life dementia incidence. Objective To evaluate associations b...

Background Late‐life ambient air pollution exposures are associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk ¹ . Cortical thinning in temporal areas vulnerable to AD is associated with memory decline, neuropathological changes, and increased AD risk. However, most neuroimaging studies on air pollution neurotoxicity analyzed volumetric indices t...

Background Exposure to air pollution in older adulthood is a novel risk factor for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is a heterogenous construct with different subtypes likely reflecting different disease etiologies. Understanding if long‐term exposure to air pollution is differentially associated with MCI subtypes may provide insight into the n...

Background: Ambient air pollution exposures increase risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias, possibly due to structural changes in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). However, existing MRI studies examining exposure effects on the MTL were cross-sectional and focused on the hippocampus, yielding mixed results. Method: To determine whet...

Exposure to ambient air pollution, especially particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μ m (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are environmental risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The medial temporal lobe (MTL) is an important brain region subserving episodic memory that atrophies with age, during the Alzheimer's di...

Introduction: Retinopathy (RP) is a microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM); however, it is also increasingly recognized in persons without DM. Microvascular disease may play a prominent role in coronary heart disease (CHD) development. We performed this study to evaluate the association of grades of RP with incidence of CAC (Coronary...

Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with changes in levels of metabolites measured in the peripheral blood. However, most research has been conducted in ethnically homogenous, young or middle-aged populations. Objective: To study the relationship between the plasma metabolome and long-term exposure to three air pollu...

Objective: Growing evidence indicates that exposure to metals are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that higher urinary levels of metals with prior evidence of an association with CVD, including non-essential (cadmium , tungsten, and uranium) and essential (cobalt, copper, and zinc) metals are associated with baseline a...

Rationale: Fine particulate matter (PM2.5;<2.5 µm) is an established cause of lung cancer, but the association with ultrafine PM (UFP;<0.1µm) is unclear. Objectives: To investigate the UFP-lung cancer association overall and by histologic subtype. Methods: The Los Angeles Ultrafines Study includes 45,012 participants aged 50+ years in Southern...

Background Animal and epidemiologic studies indicate that air pollution may adversely affect fertility. However, the level of evidence is limited and specific pollutants driving the association are inconsistent across studies. Methods We used data from a web-based preconception cohort study of pregnancy planners enrolled during 2013–2019 (Pregnanc...

Background DNA methylation-based measures of biological aging have been associated with air pollution and may link pollutant exposures to aging-related health outcomes. However, evidence is inconsistent and there is little information for Black women. Objective We examined associations of ambient particulate matter <2.5 μm and <10 μm in diameter (...

Importance Fine particulate matter air pollution (PM 2.5 ) has been consistently associated with cardiovascular disease, which, in turn, is associated with an increased risk of dementia. As such, vascular dysfunction might be a mechanism by which PM 2.5 mediates dementia risk, yet few prior epidemiological studies have examined this potential mecha...

Background: Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been inconsistently associated with breast cancer incidence, however few studies have considered historic exposure when levels were higher. Methods: Outdoor residential PM2.5 concentrations were estimated using a nationwide spatiotemporal model for women in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, a pro...

Background: Poor olfaction is common in older adults and may have profound adverse implications on their health. However, little is known about the potential environmental contributors to poor olfaction. Objective: We investigated ambient fine particulate matter [PM ≤2.5μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5)] and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in relation t...

Importance: Emerging evidence indicates that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution may increase dementia risk in older adults. Although this evidence suggests opportunities for intervention, little is known about the relative importance of PM2.5 from different emission sources. Objective: To examine associations of long-term...

Rationale: Indoor pollutants have been associated with COPD morbidity, but it is unclear whether they contribute to disease progression. Objectives: We aim to determine whether indoor particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are associated with lung function decline among current and former smokers. Methods: Of the 2,382 subjects wit...

Background Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is an age-related somatic mutation associated with incident hematologic cancer. Environmental stressors which, like air pollution, generate oxidative stress at the cellular level, may induce somatic mutations and some mutations may provide a selection advantage for persistence and ex...

Objectives To examine whether air pollution exposure is associated with central hemodynamic and brachial artery stiffness parameters. Methods We assessed central hemodynamic parameters, brachial artery stiffness measures [including brachial artery distensibility (BAD), compliance (BAC), and resistance (BAR)] using waveform analysis of the arterial...

Background: Infants experiencing bronchiolitis are at increased risk for asthma, but few studies have identified modifiable risk factors. We assessed whether early life air pollution influenced child asthma and wheeze at age 4-6 years among children with a history of bronchiolitis in the first postnatal year. Methods: Children with caregiver-repor...

Background: There is limited literature on differences in arterial compliance, as assessed from arterial pressure waveforms, with age, sex, and race/ethnicity. PTC1 and PTC2 are indices of arterial compliance, which are derived from a Windkessel model of the waveform, relatively easy to obtain, and associated with cardiovascular disease. Method:...

Background: Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) measures of ambient air pollution are associated with accelerated age-related cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Objective: We examined associations between air pollution, four cognitive factors, and the moderating role of apolipoprote...

Air pollution has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), but the mechanisms connecting air pollution to ADRD have not been firmly established. Air pollution may cause oxidative stress and neuroinflammation and contribute to the deposition of amyloid beta (Aβ) in the brain. We examined the association between fine particula...