Association Between Environmental Air Pollution and Thyroid Cancer and Nodules: A Systematic Review
Authors' conclusion
While an emerging body of literature suggests a potential association between air pollution and thyroid cancer, the quality of evidence is limited by study design constraints, variability in exposure assessment, and inconsistent adjustment for potential confounding factors.
Study context
- Population
- Original studies (published before March 2024) of outdoor air pollution and thyroid cancer/nodules with quantitative pollutant levels and effect size; >6 million patients from diverse regions11 studies
- Comparison
- Outdoor air pollution exposure and thyroid cancer/nodules
- Outcome
- Thyroid cancer diagnosis (9 studies) or thyroid nodule detection (2 studies)
Methodological detailsdescriptive synthesis, NHLBI quality assessment tool for risk of bias, Of 1294 identified studies, 11 met inclusion criteria, Pollutants: O3 in 5 studies; PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and nitric oxides (NOx) in 3; unspecified PM and CO in 2; Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 1
- Descriptive synthesis
- NHLBI quality assessment tool for risk of bias
- Of 1294 identified studies, 11 met inclusion criteria
- Pollutants: O3 in 5 studies; PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NOx in 3; unspecified PM and CO in 2; PAHs in 1
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Association of pollutants with thyroid cancer/nodules
NOx: all studies reported increased risk
1.03 to 1.5-fold
O3: all studies reported increased risk
1.1 to 1.3-fold
PM2.5 (both studies): increased odds of thyroid cancer diagnosis; magnitude increased with duration or concentration of PM2.5
1.18 to 1.23-fold
Original publication
Association Between Environmental Air Pollution and Thyroid Cancer and Nodules: A Systematic Review. Thyroid. Published 18 November 2024. doi:10.
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