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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1488558

Associations Between Ethylene Oxide Exposure and Biological Age Acceleration: Evidence from NHANES 2013-2016

Provisionally accepted
Xinyun Chen Xinyun Chen Fangyu Shi Fangyu Shi *Wenhui Yu Wenhui Yu Chunying He Chunying He *Shenju Gou Shenju Gou *Ping Fu Ping Fu
  • West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Population aging is a global concern, with the World Health Organization predicting that by 2030, one in six individuals worldwide will be 60 years or older. Ethylene oxide (EO) is a widely used industrial chemical with potential health risks, including associations with age-related diseases. This study investigates the relationship between EO exposure and biological age acceleration. Method: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2016 were analyzed, including 3,155 participants after exclusions. Blood EO levels were measured using hemoglobin adducts (HbEO). Biological age acceleration was assessed using two methods: Phenotypic Age Acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) and Klemera-Doubal Method Age Acceleration (KDM-AA). Linear and logistic regression models were applied, adjusting for various covariates, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression was used to explore non-linear associations. Results: Higher EO exposure was significantly associated with increased PhenoAgeAccel and KDM-AA across all models. In the continuous model, substantial positive associations were observed (PhenoAgeAccel: β = 0.73, p < 0.001; KDM-AA: β = 0.66, p < 0.001) in Model 3. Quintile analysis indicated a trend of increasing biological age acceleration with higher EO exposure. RCS regression demonstrated a significant linear relationship between EO exposure and PhenoAgeAccel (p for non-linearity = 0.067), as well as with KDM-AA (p for non-linearity = 0.083). Subgroup and interaction analyses revealed significant modifying effects by factors such as body mass index (BMI), gender, diabetes status, and physical activity level. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates a significant association between EO exposure and accelerated biological aging. These findings highlight the need for further prospective and mechanistic studies to validate and explore this phenomenon.

    Keywords: Ethylene Oxide, biological aging, Phenotypic Age, KDM-AA, NHANES

    Received: 03 Sep 2024; Accepted: 12 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Shi, Yu, He, Gou and Fu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Fangyu Shi, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
    Chunying He, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
    Shenju Gou, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.