Background: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently declared air pollution carcinogenic to humans. However, no study of air pollution and lung cancer to date has incorporated adjustment for exposure measurement error, and few have examined specific histological subtypes.

Objectives: Our aim was to assess the association of air pollution and incident lung cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer and the impact of measurement error on these associations.

Methods: The cohort was followed from 1986 through 2003, and 3,355 incident cases were identified. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, for long-term exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), black smoke (BS), PM_2.5 (particulate matter with diameter ≤ 2.5 μm), and measures of roadway proximity and traffic volume, adjusted for potential confounders. Information from a previous validation study was used to correct the effect estimates for measurement error.

Results: We observed elevated risks of incident lung cancer with exposure to BS [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.32, per 10 μg/m³], NO₂ (HR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.54, per 30 μg/m³), PM_2.5 (HR = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.47, per 10 μg/m³), and with measures of traffic at the baseline address. The exposures were positively associated with all lung cancer subtypes. After adjustment for measurement error, the HRs increased and the 95% CIs widened [HR = 1.19 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.39) for BS and HR = 1.37 (95% CI: 0.86, 2.17) for PM_2.5].

Conclusions: These findings add support to a growing body of literature on the effects of air pollution on lung cancer. In addition, they highlight variation in measurement error by pollutant and support the implementation of measurement error corrections when possible.

Citation: Hart JE, Spiegelman D, Beelen R, Hoek G, Brunekreef B, Schouten LJ, van den Brandt P. 2015. Long-term ambient residential traffic–related exposures and measurement error–adjusted risk of incident lung cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer. Environ Health Perspect 123:860–866;  http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408762

Address correspondence to J.E. Hart, Landmark Center 3rd Floor West (HSPH/BWH), 401 Park Dr., Boston, MA 02215 USA. Telephone: (617) 525-2289. E-mail: [email protected]

This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health (grant R01 ES009411).

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Received: 1 June 2014 Accepted: 24 March 2015 Advance Publication: 27 March 2015 Final Publication: 1 September 2015

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