Health effects of the September 2009 dust storm in Sydney, Australia: did emergency department visits and hospital admissions increase?

Merrifield, Alistair; Schindeler, Suzanne; Jalaludin, Bin; Smith, Wayne

doi:10.1186/1476-069x-12-32

Cited by 66 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In parts of the world accessible to ground monitoring of exposure, dust concentrations on storm days have been associated with increases in daily mortality rates and hospital admissions attributable to cardiovascular and respiratory causes (Chan et al, 2008; Chan and Ng, 2011; Cheng et al, 2008; Chiu et al, 2008; Merrifield et al, 2013; Middleton et al, 2008; Neophytou et al, 2013; Perez et al, 2008; Perez et al, 2012; Tam et al, 2012a; Tam et al, 2012b). Iraq, where U.S. and other military forces have been stationed over the past decade, is one such region of concern, and there is suggestive evidence that troops stationed in Iraq experienced more postdeployment respiratory symptoms consistent with asthma (Sanders et al, 2005; Roop et al, 2007; B.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal variability in desert dust and anthropogenic pollution in Iraq, 1997–2010

Chudnovsky

Koutrakis

Kostinski

et al. 2016

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Satellite imaging has emerged as a method for monitoring regional air pollution and detecting areas of high dust concentrations. Unlike ground observations, continuous data monitoring is available with global coverage of terrestrial and atmospheric components. In this study we test the utility of different sources of satellite data to assess air pollution concentrations in Iraq. SeaWiFS and MODIS Deep Blue (DB) aerosol optical depth (AOD) products were evaluated and used to characterize the spatial and temporal pollution levels from the late 1990s through 2010. The AOD and Ångström exponent (an indicator of particle size, since smaller Ångström exponent values reflect a source that includes larger particles) were correlated on 50 × 50 km spatial resolution. Generally, AOD and Ångström exponent were inversely correlated, suggesting a significant contribution of coarse particles from dust storms to AOD maxima. Although the majority of grid cells exhibited this trend, a weaker relationship in other locations suggested an additional contribution of fine particles from anthropogenic sources. Tropospheric NO2 densities from the OMI satellite were elevated over cities, also consistent with a contribution from anthropogenic sources. Our analysis demonstrates the use of satellite imaging data to estimate relative pollution levels and source contributions in areas of the world where direct measurements are not available. Implications The authors demonstrated how satellite data can be used to characterize exposures to dust and to anthropogenic pollution for future health related studies. This approach is of a great potential to investigate the associations between subject-specific exposures to different pollution sources and their health effects in inaccessible regions and areas where ground monitoring is unavailable.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal variability in desert dust and anthropogenic pollution in Iraq, 1997–2010

Chudnovsky

Koutrakis

Kostinski

et al. 2016

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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“…There was also no significant increase in cardiovascular emergency department visits or in hospital admissions during the dust storm period in Sydney, Australia [78], but the occurrence of dust events 0 to 4 d before the day of hospital admission was significantly associated with the incidence of acute myocardial infarction [162].…”

Section: Desert Dust and Cardiovascular Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…In Australia, a number of dust events were significantly associated with changes in asthma severity, but general relationships could not be determined [77]. The September 2009 dust storm in Sydney, Australia was significantly associated with a 23.0% increase in asthma-related emergency department presentations and a 14.1% increase of asthma hospital admissions compared to non-dust periods [78]. In Athens, Greece, Saharan dust events have been associated with a 2.54% increase of pediatric asthma hospital admissions based on a 10 µg/m 3 increase in PM 10 [79].…”

Section: Desert Dust Associated With Asthma and Rhinitismentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

et al. 2016

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Dust storms and sandy dust events originating in arid and semi-arid areas can transport particulate material, pollutants, and potential transport long distances from their sources. Exposure to desert dust particles is generally acknowledged to endanger human health. However, most studies have examined anthropogenic particulate sources, with few studies considering contributions from natural desert dust. A systematic literature review was undertaken using the ISI Web of Knowledge and PubMed databases with the objective of identifying all studies presenting results on the potential health impact from desert dust particles across the world. This review reveals an imbalance between the areas most exposed to dust and the areas most studied in terms of health effects. Among the human health effects of dust storms are mortality and morbidity, arising from respiratory system, circulatory system, and other diseases. We summarize the quantitative results of current scientific health research and possible pathological mechanisms, and describe some of the many challenges related to understanding health effects from exposures to desert dust particles. Overall, for respiratory and circulatory mortality, both positive and negative associations have been reported for PM 10 of desert dust, but only a positive relationship was reported between PM 2.5-10 and mortality, and a positive relationship was also reported between PM 2.5 and human mortality. Future pathological studies should continue to focus on those mechanisms causing the most harmful effect of desert dust on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. More attention should also be paid to the association between desert dust and the morbidity of other diseases, such as those affecting the reproductive system and nervous system.

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“…There has also been growing interest in the health impacts of airborne Saharan dust in southern Europe (Alessandrini et al 2013; Karanasiou et al 2012; Middleton et al 2008; Neophytou et al 2013; Samoli et al 2011; Tobías et al 2011; Zauli Sajani et al 2011) as the health impacts of coarse particles (e.g., Perez et al 2009) have come to be recognized. Additionally, there has been notable work on dust storms in other dust-affected parts of the world including Australia (Merrifield et al 2013), Israel (Vodonos et al 2014, 2015), Kuwait (Al-Taiar and Thalib 2014; Thalib and Al-Taiar 2012), and the Caribbean (Gyan et al 2005). The positive associations found in many of these works suggest a need to revisit North American dust storms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between Dust Storms and Daily Non-Accidental Mortality in the United States, 1993–2005

Crooks

Cascio

Percy³

et al. 2016

Environ Health Perspect

110

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Background:The impact of dust storms on human health has been studied in the context of Asian, Saharan, Arabian, and Australian storms, but there has been no recent population-level epidemiological research on the dust storms in North America. The relevance of dust storms to public health is likely to increase as extreme weather events are predicted to become more frequent with anticipated changes in climate through the 21st century.Objectives:We examined the association between dust storms and county-level non-accidental mortality in the United States from 1993 through 2005.Methods:Dust storm incidence data, including date and approximate location, are taken from the U.S. National Weather Service storm database. County-level mortality data for the years 1993–2005 were acquired from the National Center for Health Statistics. Distributed lag conditional logistic regression models under a time-stratified case-crossover design were used to study the relationship between dust storms and daily mortality counts over the whole United States and in Arizona and California specifically. End points included total non-accidental mortality and three mortality subgroups (cardiovascular, respiratory, and other non-accidental).Results:We estimated that for the United States as a whole, total non-accidental mortality increased by 7.4% (95% CI: 1.6, 13.5; p = 0.011) and 6.7% (95% CI: 1.1, 12.6; p = 0.018) at 2- and 3-day lags, respectively, and by an average of 2.7% (95% CI: 0.4, 5.1; p = 0.023) over lags 0–5 compared with referent days. Significant associations with non-accidental mortality were estimated for California (lag 2 and 0–5 day) and Arizona (lag 3), for cardiovascular mortality in the United States (lag 2) and Arizona (lag 3), and for other non-accidental mortality in California (lags 1–3 and 0–5).Conclusions:Dust storms are associated with increases in lagged non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality.Citation:Crooks JL, Cascio WE, Percy MS, Reyes J, Neas LM, Hilborn ED. 2016. The association between dust storms and daily non-accidental mortality in the United States, 1993–2005. Environ Health Perspect 124:1735–1743; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP216

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Health effects of the September 2009 dust storm in Sydney, Australia: did emergency department visits and hospital admissions increase?

Cited by 66 publications

References 28 publications

Spatial and temporal variability in desert dust and anthropogenic pollution in Iraq, 1997–2010

Spatial and temporal variability in desert dust and anthropogenic pollution in Iraq, 1997–2010

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

The Association between Dust Storms and Daily Non-Accidental Mortality in the United States, 1993–2005

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