Respiratory Disease
As an approach to evaluating the public health burden from current air pollution levels, we examined the relationship of daily emergency room (ER) visits for respiratory illnesses (25 hospitals, average 98 visits/d) to air pollution in Montreal, Canada, from June through September, 1992 and 1993. Air pollutants measured included ozone (O3), particulate matter diameter < 10 microm (PM10) and < 2.5 microm (PM2.5), the sulfate fraction of PM2.5 (SO4), and aerosol strong acidity (H+). Temporal trends, autocorrelation, and weather were controlled for in time-series regressions.
For 1992, no significant associations with ER visits were found. However, 33% of the particulate data were missing. For 1993, 1-h maximum O3, PM10, PM2.5, and SO4 were all positively associated with respiratory visits for patients over 64 yr of age (p < 0.02). An increase to the mean level of 1-h maximum O3 (36 ppb) was associated with a 21% increase over the mean number of daily ER visits (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8 to 34%). Effects of particulates were smaller, with mean increases of 16% (4 to 28%), 12% (2 to 21%) and 6% (1 to 12%) for PM10, PM2.5, and SO4, respectively. Relative mass effects were PM2.5 > PM10 >> SO4. Ozone and PM10 levels never exceeded 67 ppb and 51 microg/m3, respectively (well below the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards of 120 ppb and 150 microg/m3, respectively). The present findings have public health implications with regard to the adverse health effects of urban photochemical air pollution on older individuals.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9032196
A total of 92,464 respiratory emergency visits were recorded during the study period. The mean daily PM2.5 concentration was 102.1±73.6 μg/m3. Every 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5concentration at lag0 was associated with an increase in ERV, as follows: 0.23% for total respiratory disease (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11%-0.34%), 0.19% for upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) (95%CI: 0.04%-0.35%), 0.34% for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) (95%CI: 0.14%-0.53%) and 1.46% for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) (95%CI: 0.13%-2.79%). The strongest association was identified between AECOPD and PM2.5 concentration at lag0-3 (3.15%, 95%CI: 1.39%-4.91%). The estimated effects were robust after adjusting for SO2, O3, CO and NO2. Females and people 60 years of age and older demonstrated a higher risk of respiratory disease after PM2.5 exposure.
Conclusion
PM2.5 was significantly associated with respiratory ERV, particularly for URTI, LRTI and AECOPD in Beijing. The susceptibility to PM2.5 pollution varied by gender and age.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0153099
Heart Disease
In this large multicenter analysis, daily average concentrations of CO and NO2 exhibited the most consistent associations with ED visits for cardiac conditions, while ozone exhibited the most consistent associations with visits for respiratory conditions. PM10 and PM2.5 were strongly associated with asthma visits during the warm season.
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-8-25