Differentiating the effects of ambient fine and coarse particles on mortality from cardiopulmonary diseases: A nationwide multicity study. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tian, Fei; Qi, Jinlei; Wang, Lijun; Yin, Peng; Qian, Zhengmin (Min); Ruan, Zengliang; Liu, Jiangmei; Liu, Yunning; McMillin, Stephen Edward; Wang, Chongjian; Lin, Hualiang; Zhou, Maigeng
• Is Part Of: Environment international. Volume 145(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Air pollution -- Particulate matter -- Ischemic heart disease -- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- Mortality burden; CDRS Cause of Death Reporting System -- IHD ischemic heart disease -- COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- PM2.5 particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to 2.5 μm -- PMc particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter larger than to 2.5 μm and smaller than 10 μm -- PM10 particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to 10 μm -- SO2 sulfur dioxide -- O3 ozone -- NO2 nitrogen dioxide; Environmental protection -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental Monitoring -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Protection -- Périodiques; Hygiène du milieu -- Périodiques; Environnement -- Surveillance -- Périodiques; Environmental health; Environmental monitoring; Environmental protection; Periodicals; 333.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106096
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-4120

Abstract

Highlights: Ambient exposure to PM2.5 and PMc were associated with mortality from IHD and COPD. Exposure to PM2.5 exerted larger effects on mortality of IHD and COPD than PMc . Substantial mortality burden of IHD and COPD could be attributable to PM2.5 exposure. Abstract: Background: Both inhalable particles (PM10 ) and fine particles (PM2.5 ) are regulated in various countries mainly due to their adverse health effects. However, there is increasing evidence that PM2.5 might be responsible for these effects and coarse particles (PMc ) plays little role in adverse health effects, if so, it might be not necessary to monitor PM10 . Methods: In this study, we conducted a time-series analysis using a generalized additive model to explore the effects of PM2.5, PMc, and PM10 on mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 96 Chinese cities during 2013–2016. The mortality number and attributable fraction were further estimated using the national air quality standard and WHO's guideline as the reference. Results: We observed significant effects of PM2.5 on IHD and COPD mortality; each 10 ug/m 3 increase in lag01 PM2.5 was associated with a 0.26% (95% CI: 0.17%, 0.34%) increase in IHD mortality and a 0.19% (95% CI: 0.09%, 0.29%) increase in COPD mortality. We also found significant effects of PMc and PM10 on mortality from IHD and COPD, but the magnitudes of effects were weaker than those of PM2.5 . The results were robust when adjusting for co-pollutants and altering model parameters. We further estimated that about 1.27% (95% CI: 0.29%, 2.30%) of IHD mortality and 1.25% (95% CI: 0.08%, 2.46%) of COPD mortality could be attributable to PM2.5 exposure using WHO's guideline (25 ug/m 3 ) as a reference, corresponding to 15, 337 (95% CI: 3, 375, 27, 842) mortalities from IHD and 5, 653 (95% CI: 379, 11, 152) COPD mortalities in the 96 cities. Across all of China, almost fifty thousand cases of IHD mortality and twenty thousand cases of COPD mortality might be avoidable if the PM2.5 concentration declined to the WHO guideline. Conclusions: Our study indicates that short-term exposure to PM2.5 could be an important risk factor of mortality from IHD and COPD, and substantial cardiopulmonary mortality could be avoidable by reducing daily PM2.5 concentrations. It is nonnegligible to consider the role of PMc in triggering in cardiopulmonary mortality. And it could be necessary to continue monitoring PM10 in the study regions due to the adverse effects of PMc .