{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T12:24:46Z","timestamp":1789129486230,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]],"date-time":"2024-12-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733356800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Soonchunhyang University Research Fund"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The effect of air pollution, a major global health issue, on the immune system, particularly on white blood cell (WBC) counts, remains underexplored. Methods: This study utilized data from 54,756 participants in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to investigate the effects of short- (day of examination and 7-day averages), mid- (30- and 90-day averages), and long-term (one-, three-, and five-year averages) air pollutant exposure on WBC counts. We assessed exposure to particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). Results: Linear regression with log-transformed WBC counts, adjusted for confounders, showed that PM10 was positively associated with long-term exposure, PM2.5 was negatively associated with short- and mid-term exposures, SO2 was consistently negatively associated with short- and mid-term exposures, NO2 and CO were positive across most periods, and O3 was negatively associated with short- and mid-term exposures. Logistic regression analysis confirmed these findings, showing that short- and mid-term exposure to PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 was negatively associated with the risk of belonging to the high-WBC group, while long-term exposure to PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and CO showed positive associations with risk. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the time- and pollutant-specific associations between air pollution exposure and WBC counts, underscoring air pollution\u2019s potential impact on systemic inflammation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13237402","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]],"date-time":"2024-12-05T06:24:44Z","timestamp":1733379884000},"page":"7402","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["The Association Between Air Pollution Exposure and White Blood Cell Counts: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey in South Korea"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8737-8847","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jihye","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan 31151, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hee-Young","family":"Yoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul 04401, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8516622","DOI":"10.1155\/2023\/8516622","article-title":"Urban Air Pollution and Greenness in Relation to Public Health","volume":"2023","author":"Bikis","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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