Evaluating spatial patterns of seasonal ozone exposure and incidence of respiratory emergency room visits in Dallas-Fort Worth

Abstract

Background In urban environments, environmental air pollution poses significant risks to respiratory health. Moreover, the seasonal spatial variability of the air pollutant ozone, and respiratory illness within Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) is not well understood. We examine the relationships between spatial patterns of long-term ozone exposure and respiratory illness to better understand impacts on health outcomes. We propose that this study will establish an enhanced understanding of the spatio-temporal characteristics of ozone concentrations and respiratory emergency room visits (ERV) incidence. Methods Air pollution data (ozone) and ERV incidence data from DFW was used to evaluate the relationships between exposures and outcomes using three steps: (1) develop a geostatistical model to produce quarterly maps of ozone exposure for the DFW area; (2) use spatial analysis techniques to identify clusters of zip codes with high or low values of ozone exposure and respiratory ERV incidence; and (3) use concentration-response curves to evaluate the relationships between respiratory ERV incidence and ozone exposure. Results Respiratory ERV incidence was highest in quarters 1 and 4, while ozone exposure was highest in quarters 2 and 3. Extensive statistically significant spatial clusters of ozone regions were identified. Although the maps revealed that there was no regional association between the spatial patterns of high respiratory ERV incidence and ozone exposure, the concentration-response analysis suggests that lower levels of ozone exposure may still contribute to adverse respiratory outcomes.

Observational evidence for detrimental impact of inhaled ozone on human respiratory system

“…For example, Shenzhen’s annual average concentration of O 3 was 70 µg/m 3 in 2013, while the annual average O 3 concentration in Beijing was 84.75 µg/m 3 in the same year. Our results also find that even relatively low levels of ozone exposure are significantly associated with hospitalization for acute respiratory diseases, which is the same as the findings in previous study [ 31 ].…”

Mapping Health Fragility and Vulnerability in Air Pollution–Monitoring Networks in Dallas–Fort Worth

“…Over seven million people die annually from the global problem of air pollution [1]. Ozone air pollution has both health and environmental effects and is of particular interest because it damages agriculture, harms respiratory functions, and contributes to climate change [2][3][4][5][6]. Higher concentrations of air pollutants occur in urban environments, driven primarily by the energy and transportation needs [5,7,8].…”