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Air pollution exposure in Generation Scotland: molecular fingerprints and health outcomes
Robertson JA, Krätschmer I, Richmond A, McCartney DL, Bajzik J, Vernardis S, Corley J, Tomlinson SJ et al.. medRxiv, 2026-03-04
Topic: Air pollution and environmental exposures
Ambient air pollution has been associated with increased incidence of chronic disease and is estimated to contribute towards 4.2 million early deaths annually. Whilst the health impacts are well described, less is understood about the underlying biological mechanisms, particularly when considering the co-occurrence of multiple pollutants. Using an atmospheric chemistry transportation model (EMEP4UK), we generate pre-baseline sampling pollution exposure estimates for eight pollutants in Generation Scotland (N = 22,071, recruited between 2006 - 2011). Cox-proportional hazard models reveal associations between pollution exposure and all-cause dementia (PM 2.5 ) and myocardial infarction (NO 3_Coarse ) over 18 years of follow-up. We perform Bayesian multivariate epigenome-wide (N = 18,512, Illumina EPIC v.1) and proteomic (N = 15,314, 133 mass-spectrometry proteins) association studies, revealing 11 pollutant-methylation associations and 140 pollutant-protein associations. We identify positive associations between exposure (PM 2.5 and NO 3_Fine ) and epigenetic age-acceleration (PhenoAge epigenetic clock). Furthermore, we explore the development of pollutant EpiScores, assessing these in holdout and independent test sets. Our results enhance knowledge of molecular correlates of air pollution exposure, whilst providing further evidence of contributions of air pollutants to chronic disease.
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APA 7th
Robertson, J. A., Krätschmer, I., Richmond, A., McCartney, D. L., Bajzik, J., Vernardis, S., et al. (2026). Air pollution exposure in Generation Scotland: molecular fingerprints and health outcomes. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.04.26347573
Vancouver
Robertson JA, Krätschmer I, Richmond A, McCartney DL, Bajzik J, Vernardis S, et al. Air pollution exposure in Generation Scotland: molecular fingerprints and health outcomes. medRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.03.04.26347573.
BibTeX
@article{robertson2026-3abf4e35,
author = {Robertson, J. A. and Krätschmer, I. and Richmond, A. and McCartney, D. L. and Bajzik, J. and Vernardis, S. and Corley, J. and Tomlinson, S. J. and others},
title = {{Air pollution exposure in Generation Scotland: molecular fingerprints and health outcomes}},
journal = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.03.04.26347573},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.04.26347573}
}
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Key findings
- Ambient air pollution has been associated with increased incidence of chronic disease and is estimated to contribute towards 4.2 million early deaths annually.
- Our results enhance knowledge of molecular correlates of air pollution exposure, whilst providing further evidence of contributions of air pollutants to chronic disease.
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Study details
- Participants22,071
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 35 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 35 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (medRxiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 22,071 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 22 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 35 out of 100. |
| Total | 35 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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