Effects of air pollution and climatic conditions on the frequency of ophthalmological emergency examinations

Bourcier, Tristan; Viboud, Cécile; Cohen, J-C; Thomas, F; Bury, Thierry; Cadiot, L.; Mestre, O.; Flahault, Antoine; Borderie, Vincent; Laroche, Lucie

doi:10.1136/bjo.87.7.809

Cited by 68 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Similar multi-city studies have been conducted in Taiwan, where the air pollution concentrations are much higher [21]. Single-site studies have been completed in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and in Paris, France [17,23]. This study, besides providing corroborating evidence with previously published studies, adds to the current science in several important ways: this is one of the largest multicity studies in North America concerning air pollution and ED visits for conjunctivitis, it investigates the latency, up to 8 days, in exposure effects, and it stratifies results by gender and age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Most of the population of Ontario inhabits the territory along a heavily trafficked and industrialized international border with the United States. Polluting activities and population health in the border regions in both countries are intricately linked, as the gaseous pollutants are known to travel long distances [23] and cause cross-border impacts. The results reported in this paper were obtained using a case-crossover (CC) technique augmented by meta-analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher levels of ambient air pollution have been correlated with adverse effects on the tear film, ocular mucosa, ocular surface, and eyelid margins [30,36,39,[48][49][50]. Several population studies have examined the associations between air pollution levels and ED visits for eye diseases [17, 21,23,24]. To our knowledge, no multi-city studies have investigated this link for cities in North America.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have confirmed that the ambient air pollution is a risk factor for respiratory conditions, such as asthma [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Studies also have linked ambient air pollution to non-respiratory conditions, such as cardiovascular disease [12,13], appendicitis [14], headaches and migraines [15], skin conditions [16][17][18][19][20], eye discomfort and conjunctivitis [17, [21][22][23]. While air pollution is linked to eye discomforts, conjunctivitis in particular, in several studies of cellular microbiology and tissue pathology, and in individual-level reports [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36], the population burden of these disorders is not well characterized.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Air pollution and emergency department visits for conjunctivitis: A case-crossover study

Szyszkowicz

Kousha

Castner

2016

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between emergency department (ED) visits for conjunctivitis and ambient air pollution levels in urban regions across the province of Ontario, Canada. Material and Methods: Information from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System was used to create time-series records, for the period of April 2004 to December 2011, on emergency department visits of patients suffering from conjunctivitis. A total of 77 439 emergency department visits for conjunctivitis were analyzed. A time-stratified case-crossover design was applied, completed with meta-analysis in order to pool inter-city results. Odds ratio (OR) for an emergency department visit was calculated in different population strata per one-unit increase (one interquartile range -IQR increase in a pollutant's daily level) while controlling for the impacts of temperature and relative humidity. Results: Statistically significant positive results were observed in the female population sample, for nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) exposure lagged 5-8 days, with the highest result for the 7-day lag (OR = 1.035, 95% CI: 1.018-1.052) and for fine particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), for lags 6 and 7 days, with the highest result for lag 7 (OR = 1.017, 95% CI: 1.003-1.031). In the male population sample, statistically significant positive results were observed for NO 2 at lag 5 days (OR = 1.024, 95% CI: 1.004-1.045) and for ozone (O 3 ), at lags 0-3 and 7 days, with the highest result for lag 0 (OR = 1.038, 95% CI: 1.012-1.056). Also for males, statistically significant results were observed in the case of PM 2.5 exposure lagged by 5 days (OR = 1.003, 95% CI: 1.000-1.038) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) exposure lagged by 1 and 2 days (OR = 1.016, 95% CI: 1.000-1.031 and OR = 1.018, 95% CI: 1.002-1.033). Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that there are associations between levels of air pollution and ED visits for conjunctivitis, with different temporal trends and strength of association by age, sex, and season. include blurred vision, sensitivity to light, pain, foreign body sensations, itching, burning, discharges, and inability to tolerate contact lenses [40]. The conjunctiva is continuously bathed in a tear film, which acts as both a lubricant for eye movement and a protective barrier to dilute and remove harmful environmental impurities. Higher levels of ambient air pollution have been correlated with adverse effects on the tear film, ocular mucosa, ocular surface, and eyelid margins [30,36,39,[48][49][50]. Several population studies have examined the associations between air pollution levels and ED visits for eye diseases [17,21,23,24]. To our knowledge, no multi-city studies have investigated this link for cities in North America. Filling this gap in the epidemiologic literature is important; multi-city studies are known to give more reliable results, less liable to biases in comparison to studies concerned with individual urban centers [51...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Air pollution and emergency department visits for conjunctivitis: A case-crossover study

Szyszkowicz

Kousha

Castner

2016

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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“…It is also essential to realise that dry eye prevalence is usually higher in contact lens wearers. Bourcier et al (30) investigated the association between the number of ophthalmologic emergencies, urban air pollution, and climatic conditions in Paris to determine the possibility of creating a surveillance system capable of monitoring trends in the relation between air pollution and ophthalmologic emergencies. Five major urban air pollutants nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and sulphur dioxide particles with a median aerodynamic diameter of <10 µm were provided by the Paris air pollution network AIRPARIF.…”

Section: Eye Surfacementioning

confidence: 99%

The Eye - a Neglected Organ in Environmental and Occupational Medicine: An Overview of Known Environmental and Occupational Non-Traumatic Effects on the Eyes

Rozanova¹,

Heilig

Godnič‐Cvar

2009

Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology

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The Eye - a Neglected Organ in Environmental and Occupational Medicine: An Overview of Known Environmental and Occupational Non-Traumatic Effects on the EyesThe objective of this study was to give an overview of the known literature data on the influence of environmental and occupational factors on the eye. Sixty-six articles were selected by searching Medline and PubMed databases using the following key words in different combinations: occupational and environmental factors, dry eye syndrome, cataract, retinal vascular changes.Most of the studies dealt with conditions on the eye surface and used eye discomfort syndrome and dry eye syndrome to outline the effects of air pollutants. Some reported increased frequency of lens opacities due to indoor fuel exposure, in particular biofuel, and negative effects of styrene exposure on colour vision. Investigations of retinal vascular changes and retinopathy after chronic exposure to carbon disulfide (CS2) and of retinal and choroidal haemodynamics after exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) found that CS2 caused an increase in retinal venous diameters and CO caused an increase in arterial and venous diameters, retinal blood flow velocity, and fundus pulsation amplitude. This article also discusses the influence of light exposure on retinal damage. It shows that very little information is available about the influence of environmental and occupational factors on the eye, and retina and retinal vessels in particular.

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A Health Damage Pattern Due to Street-Level Pollution in the Central Paris Area Estimated With a Turbulence-Resolving Model

Esau

2011

Sustainable Environmental Design in Architecture

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Effects of air pollution and climatic conditions on the frequency of ophthalmological emergency examinations

Cited by 68 publications

References 15 publications

Air pollution and emergency department visits for conjunctivitis: A case-crossover study

Air pollution and emergency department visits for conjunctivitis: A case-crossover study

The Eye - a Neglected Organ in Environmental and Occupational Medicine: An Overview of Known Environmental and Occupational Non-Traumatic Effects on the Eyes

A Health Damage Pattern Due to Street-Level Pollution in the Central Paris Area Estimated With a Turbulence-Resolving Model

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