Sci Rep. 2025 Dec 12. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-31422-2. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Ambient air pollutants are hazardous materials posing significant risks to global public health. While their impacts on respiratory and cardiovascular systems are well-established, their role in triggering specific autoimmune skin diseases remains under-explored. This study investigates the temporally resolved public health response to air pollutant exposure, using the autoimmune condition vitiligo as a sensitive health endpoint. We aimed to evaluate the differential public health responses to six major air pollutants by analyzing their lagged effects on vitiligo-related online search behavior, using the Baidu Search Index (BSI) as a novel proxy for public concern and health-seeking activity. In this ecological time-series study, we applied a Distributed Lag Non-linear Model (DLNM) to daily data on BSI, air pollutants, and meteorological factors in Changsha, China (2019-2021). The findings reveal distinct, pollutant-specific temporal patterns of public response, suggesting different toxicological pathways. Exposure to industrial pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2) prompted an immediate, acute increase in search behavior. In contrast, traffic-related pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO) were associated with a more persistent, long-term response. These associations remained robust in two-pollutant models. Short-term exposure to hazardous air pollutants is associated with significant changes in public health-seeking behavior. The study highlights the value of infodemiology as a near real-time surveillance tool for monitoring population-level responses to environmental hazards and provides new evidence on the differential health impacts of specific pollutants on autoimmune skin conditions.
PMID:41388066 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-31422-2