Air Pollution and Chronic Eye Disease in Adults: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT

Purpose

We conducted a scoping review of studies examining ambient air pollution as a risk factor for chronic eye disease influencing the lens, retina, and intraocular pressure in adults.

Methods

Terms related to air pollution and eye disease outcomes were used to search for publications on Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, Global Health, PubMed, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from January 1, 2010, through April 11, 2022.

Results

We identified 27 articles, focusing on the following non-mutually exclusive outcomes: cataract (n = 9), presbyopia (n = 1), retinal vein occlusion or central retinal arteriolar and venular equivalents (n = 5), intraocular pressure (IOP) (n = 3), glaucoma (n = 5), age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (n = 5), diabetic retinopathy (n = 2), and measures of retinal morphology (n = 3). Study designs included cross-sectional (n = 16), case–control (n = 4), and longitudinal (n = 7). Air pollutants were measured in 50% and 95% of the studies on lens and retina or IOP, respectively, and these exposures were assigned to geographic locations. Most research was conducted in global regions with high exposure to air pollution. Consistent associations suggested a possibly increased risk of cataract and retina-associated chronic eye disease with increasing exposure to particulate matter (PM_2.5-PM₁₀), NO₂, NO_x, and SO₂. Associations with O₃ were less consistent.

Conclusions

Accumulating research suggests air pollution may be a modifiable risk factor for chronic eye diseases of the lens and retina. The number of studies on each specific lens- or retina-related outcome is limited. Guidelines regarding the role of air pollution in chronic eye disease do not exist.

KEYWORDS:

• Epidemiology
• air pollution
• particulate matter
• retina
• cornea
• lens
• reveiw
• systematic review
• environmental exposure

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest for any authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09286586.2023.2183513

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associatedwith the work featured in this article.