Saharan Dust Events in the Dust Belt -Canary Islands- and the Observed Association with in-Hospital Mortality of Patients with Heart Failure

Abstract

Recent studies have found increases in the cardiovascular mortality rates during poor air quality events due to outbreaks of desert dust. In Tenerife, we collected (2014–2017) data in 829 patients admitted with a heart failure diagnosis in the Emergency Department of the University Hospital of the Canaries. In this region, concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 are usually low (~20 and 10 µg/m3), but they increase to 360 and 115 μg/m3, respectively, during Saharan dust events. By using statistical tools (including multivariable logistic regressions), we compared in-hospital mortality of patients with heart failure and exposure to PM10 and PM2.5 during dust and no-dust events. We found that 86% of in-hospital heart failure mortality cases occurred during Saharan dust episodes that resulted in PM10 > 50 µg/m3 (interquartile range: 71–96 µg/m3). A multivariate analysis showed that, after adjusting for other covariates, exposure to Saharan dust events associated with PM10 > 50 µg/m3 was an independent predictor of heart failure in-hospital mortality (OR = 2.79, 95% CI (1.066–7.332), p = 0.03). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that exposure to high Saharan dust concentrations is independently associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with heart failure.

Forensic-Engineering Aspect in One Example of Long-Distance Transport of Air Pollutant

“…The differences under consideration may be the product of various distributions and transport of dust, and reactivity with compounds in the environment, which contribute to the occurrence of uncertainty in the assessment of performance [20][21][22][23]. Also, deposition, interactions and environmental conditions should not be neglected as well as influence and potential effect on human health [24][25][26][27][28]. Whether or not inhalation of PM form desert dust has adverse health effect is insufficiently investigated, there is even studies reviewed assessment of the influence of desert dust on cardiovascular diseases [29][30][31][32].…”

Dust from the Sahara to the American Continent: Health impacts

“…9 Ultrafine particles (PM 0.1 ) reach the alveoli, pass through the alveolar-capillary membrane, and penetrate the bloodstream, thus causing respiratory (including asthma, tracheitis, pneumonia, and allergic rhinitis) and cardiovascular effects (including stroke) [34][35][36][37][38] and increase mortality and hospitalizations related to these diseases, as demonstrated in several studies. [29][30][31][32][39][40][41][42][43][44] Other health impacts may be related to the anthropogenic dust load: (1) co-emission of anthropogenic pollutants with desert dust in some cases (because of the influence of emissions from large petrochemical plants and burning) and (2) coating of the dust with anthropogenic pollutants because of the chemical and physical interactions of mineral dust with local pollutants emitted in the receiving region. 15,45 Indeed, a standardized approach to the methodology for evaluating the short-term health effects of desert dust has been recently proposed.…”

Determination of vulnerability areas from the simulated deposition of atmospheric pollutants using LOTOS-EUROS chemical transport model in North-West South-America

“…The model is used for daily operational air quality forecasts over Europe (Marécal et al, 2015), the Netherlands (Hendriks et al, 2013), and China (Brasseur et al, 2019). The model is used for daily forecasts of dust concentrations over north Africa as part of the SDS-WAS service (Dominguez-Rodriguez et al, 2020), and has been used to forecast the dynamics of particulate matter in the Aburrá Valley in Colombia (Lopez-Restrepo et al, 2020).…”