Air pollution from bushfires and their association with hospital admissions in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, Australia 1994–2007

Abstract

Objective: We examined the association between validated bushfire smoke pollution events and hospital admissions in three eastern Australian cities from 1994 to 2007. Methods: Smoke events were defined as days on which bushfire smoke caused the 24-hour citywide average concentration of airborne particles to exceed the 99 th percentile of the daily distribution for the study period. We used a time-stratified case-crossover design to assess the association between smoke events and hospital admissions. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for cardiovascular and respiratory conditions on event days compared with non-event days. Models were adjusted for daily meteorology, influenza epidemics and holidays. Results: Smoke events occurred on 58 days in Sydney (population: 3,862,000), 33 days in Wollongong (population: 406,000) and 50 days in Newcastle (population: 278,000). In Sydney, events were associated with a 6% (OR=1.06, 95%CI=1.02-1.09) same day increase in respiratory hospital admissions. Same day chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admissions increased 13% (OR=1.13, 95%CI=1.05-1.22) and asthma admissions by 12% (OR=1.12, 95%CI=1.05-1.19). Events were also associated with increased admissions for respiratory conditions in Newcastle and Wollongong. Conclusions: Smoke events were associated with increased hospital admissions for respiratory but not cardiovascular conditions. Large populations are needed to assess the impacts of brief exposures. Implications: Public health impacts from bushfire pollution events are likely to increase in association with a warming climate and more frequent severe fire weather.

Hospital out-and-in-patients as Functions of Trace Gaseous Species and Other Meteorological Parameters in Chiang-Mai, Thailand

“…More than 70% of smokers reported that they smoked manufactured cigarettes (Sirirassamee and Sirirassamee, 2013). Secondly, a viral etiology of fever and respiratory tract infection syndrome was most prevalent among children aged < 4 years in Shaanxi province, which is consistent with the finding that both Male-IPD and Female-IPD are significantly higher in the 0-14 age group in Chiang-Mai province (Martin et al, 2013). Third, an early study that concentrated on the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) suggests that PM 2.5 -associated hospital admission rates for all respiratory outcomes were predominantly positive in children aged 1 to 9 years in 12 California counties, from 2000 to 2005, consistent with the exceptionally high hospital admissions of the 0-14 age group in Chiang-Mai for both genders (Yap et al, 2013).…”

“…It is well known that weather conditions and air pollution levels play an important role in hospital admissions for respiratory diseases (Chan et al, 2013;Martin et al, 2013). To investigate the influence of trace gaseous concentrations and meteorological variables on hospital admissions for respiratory diseases, Male-OPD and Female-OPD were modeled as:…”

Impact of smoke from prescribed burning: Is it a public health concern?

“…Most research to date has focused on the health impacts of particulate matter exposure from wildfire smoke when it affects large population centers (Delfino et al, 2009;Morgan et al, 2010;Johnston et al, 2011;Henderson et al, 2012;Martin et al, 2013).…”

“…The most commonly investigated and established adverse health impact of PM 2.5 exposure from wildfire smoke exposure relates to pulmonary diseases (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, infections) (Dennekamp and Abramson, 2011;Henderson and Johnston, 2012) and increase in clinical endpoints (hospital admissions, emergency department visits, increase in asthma symptoms and medication usage, decrease in pulmonary function) (Johnston et al, 2006;Delfino et al, 2009;Ignotti et al, 2010;Henderson et al, 2011;Do Carmo et al, 2013;Elliott et al, 2013;Martin et al, 2013). Evidence for adverse cardiovascular outcomes is also emerging, although the results have been null or inconclusive so far (Delfino et al, 2009;Johnston et al, 2007;Henderson et al, 2011;Rappold et al, 2011;Rappold et al, 2012;Martin et al, 2013;Youssouf et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015).…”

“…Evidence for adverse cardiovascular outcomes is also emerging, although the results have been null or inconclusive so far (Delfino et al, 2009;Johnston et al, 2007;Henderson et al, 2011;Rappold et al, 2011;Rappold et al, 2012;Martin et al, 2013;Youssouf et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015). There is also strong evidence of the impact on nontraumatic mortality rates due to exposure to high concentrations of PM 2.5 during wildfires (Hanninen et al, 2009;Johnston et al, 2011;Kochi and Champ 2012;Youssouf et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015).…”