Association of Particulate Air Pollution With Daily Mortality: The China Air Pollution and Health Effects Study

Abstract

China is one of the few countries with some of the highest particulate matter levels in the world. However, only a small number of particulate matter health studies have been conducted in China. The study objective was to examine the association of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm (PM(10)) with daily mortality in 16 Chinese cities between 1996 and 2008. Two-stage Bayesian hierarchical models were applied to obtain city-specific and national average estimates. Poisson regression models incorporating natural spline smoothing functions were used to adjust for long-term and seasonal trends of mortality, as well as other time-varying covariates. The averaged daily concentrations of PM(10) in the 16 Chinese cities ranged from 52 μg/m(3) to 156 μg/m(3). The 16-city combined analysis showed significant associations of PM(10) with mortality: A 10-μg/m(3) increase in 2-day moving-average PM(10) was associated with a 0.35% (95% posterior interval (PI): 0.18, 0.52) increase of total mortality, 0.44% (95% PI: 0.23, 0.64) increase of cardiovascular mortality, and 0.56% (95% PI: 0.31, 0.81) increase of respiratory mortality. Females, older people, and residents with low educational attainment appeared to be more vulnerable to PM(10) exposure. Conclusively, this largest epidemiologic study of particulate air pollution in China suggests that short-term exposure to PM(10) is associated with increased mortality risk.

Neighborhood-health links: Differences between rural-to-urban migrants and natives in Shanghai

“…For example, the availability of recreational parks and bus routes has been found to be positively associated with levels of physical activity participation, thus indirectly promoting health. By contrast, environmental hazards such as air pollution, spatial proximity to solid waste sites, and noise are confirmed to be negative contextual correlates of individual-level health in the US (Geelen et al 2009;Downey 2006;Wen, Hawkley, and Cacioppo 2006) as well as in China (Chen et al 2012;Wen et al 2010).…”

Assessment of Indoor-Outdoor Particulate Matter Air Pollution: A Review

“…People spend, in fact, most of their time indoors [7,8] and the correlation among personal exposure and outdoor concentrations of particulate matter is still weak in the literature [9,10]. For this reason, despite formerly and recent epidemiological studies referring mainly to outdoor particulate concentrations [11], the assessment of indoor and personal concentrations in work and life environments is necessary to evaluate the total exposure to air pollution.…”

Trends of ambient fine particles and major chemical components in the Pearl River Delta region: Observation at a regional background site in fall and winter

“…During these episodes, ambient 24-h average PM 2.5 levels up to 175 μg m −3 have been recorded, well over the World Health Organization (WHO) daily Air Quality Guidelines of 25 μg m −3 . High PM 2.5 levels are closely associated with long-and short-term health problems (Tie et al, 2009;van Donkelaar et al, 2010;Chen R.J. et al, 2012;Shang et al, 2013). In an attempt to reduce particulate pollution, the Chinese government has recently implemented new national ambient air quality standards, which for the first time include PM 2.5 .…”