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Dust Storms and Mortality in the United States, 1995-2005
Citation:
Crooks, J. Dust Storms and Mortality in the United States, 1995-2005. Presented at International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Seattle, WA, August 24 - 28, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this work is to estimate the effect of dust storms on mortality in the United States.
Description:
Extreme weather events, such as dust storms, are predicted to become more frequent as the global climate warms through the 21st century. The impact of dust storms on human health has been studied extensively in the context of Asian, Saharan, Arabian, and Australian storms, but there has been little recent population-level epidemiological research on the dust storms in North America. The purpose of the present study is to examine the association between dust storms and mortality in urban metropolitan areas in the United States between 1995 and 2005. Dust storm incidence data, including date and approximate location, are taken from the U.S. National Weather Service storm database. Mortality data for every metropolitan area in the United States were acquired from the National Center for Health Statistics. Conditional logistic regression models were used to study the relationship between mortality and dust storms while accounting for meteorological and air pollutant confounders. Preliminary results based on 421 dust storms occurring in the years 2001-2005 indicate a positive association between dust storms and lagged respiratory mortality. Disclaimer: This abstract does not necessarily reflect U.S. EPA policy.