Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Strandboulevarden 49, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Region Västra Götaland, Department of Medicine Geriatrics and Emergency Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital Östra Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Strandboulevarden 49, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping, Sweden.
Aging Research Centre, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Stockholm Gerontology Research Centre, Stockholm, Sweden.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Department of Air Quality and Noise, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark; Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark.
Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Environment and Health Administration, Stockholm, Sweden.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Neurology and the Parker Institute, Frederiksberg Hospital, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Environment Department, City of Malmö, Malmö, Sweden.
Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Cardiology, Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland; School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Strandboulevarden 49, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Strandboulevarden 49, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Department of Natural Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Denmark.
Background: Colon cancer incidence is rising globally, and factors pertaining to urbanization have been proposed involved in this development. Traffic noise may increase colon cancer risk by causing sleep disturbance and stress, thereby inducing known colon cancer risk-factors, e.g. obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption, but few studies have examined this.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between traffic noise and colon cancer (all, proximal, distal) in a pooled population of 11 Nordic cohorts, totaling 155,203 persons.
Methods: We identified residential address history and estimated road, railway, and aircraft noise, as well as air pollution, for all addresses, using similar exposure models across cohorts. Colon cancer cases were identified through national registries. We analyzed data using Cox Proportional Hazards Models, adjusting main models for harmonized sociodemographic and lifestyle data.
Results: During follow-up (median 18.8 years), 2757 colon cancer cases developed. We found a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.05 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99–1.10) per 10-dB higher 5-year mean time-weighted road traffic noise. In sub-type analyses, the association seemed confined to distal colon cancer: HR 1.06 (95% CI: 0.98–1.14). Railway and aircraft noise was not associated with colon cancer, albeit there was some indication in sub-type analyses that railway noise may also be associated with distal colon cancer. In interaction-analyses, the association between road traffic noise and colon cancer was strongest among obese persons and those with high NO2-exposure.
Discussion: A prominent study strength is the large population with harmonized data across eleven cohorts, and the complete address-history during follow-up. However, each cohort estimated noise independently, and only at the most exposed façade, which may introduce exposure misclassification. Despite this, the results of this pooled study suggest that traffic noise may be a risk factor for colon cancer, especially of distal origin.
Elsevier, 2023. Vol. 224, article id 115454
Colon cancer, Distal, Pooled cohort study, Proximal, Railway noise, Road traffic noise