Cardiopulmonary effects of fine particulate matter exposure among older adults, during wildfire and non-wildfire periods, in U.S. 2008-2010
Citation:
Deflorio-Barker, S., J. Crooks, J. Reyes, AND Ana G. Rappold. Cardiopulmonary effects of fine particulate matter exposure among older adults, during wildfire and non-wildfire periods, in U.S. 2008-2010. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC, 127(3):37006, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3860
Impact/Purpose:
This paper provides scientific evidence that cardiovascular health effects of exposures to wildland fires are generally consistent with those air pollutants, but that asthma and respiratory effects are stronger. The results will be used to guide and inform future risk assessments”
Description:
Background: The effects of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during wildland fires are not well understood in comparison to PM2.5 exposures from other sources. Objectives: We examined the cardiopulmonary effects of short-term exposure to PM2.5 on smoke days and evaluated whether health effects are consistent with those during non-smoke days in the U.S. Methods: We examined cardiopulmonary hospitalizations among adults 65+ years of age, in U.S. counties (n=692) within 200km of 123 large wildfires, during 2008-2010. We evaluated associations during smoke and non-smoke days and examined variability with respect to modelled and observed exposure metrics. Poisson regression was used to estimate county-specific effects at lag days 0-6, adjusted for day of week, temperature, humidity, and seasonal trend. We used meta-analyses to combine county-specific effects and estimate overall percent differences in hospitalizations expressed per 10µg/m3 increase in PM2.5. Results: Exposure to PM2.5 on all days and locations, was associated with increased hospitalizations on smoke and non-smoke days using modelled exposure metrics. The estimated effects persisted across multiple lags, with a percent increase of 1.08%(95% confidence interval:0.28, 1.89) on smoke days and 0.67%(-0.09, 1.44) on non-smoke days for respiratory and 0.61%(0.09,1.14) on smoke days and 0.69%(0.19,1.2) on non-smoke days for cardiovascular outcomes on lag day 1. For asthma-related hospitalizations, percent increase was greater on smoke days (6.9%(3.71,10.11)) than non-smoke days (1.34%(-1.10,3.77)) on lag day 1. Conclusions: The increased risk of PM2.5-related cardiopulmonary hospitalizations was similar on smoke and non-smoke days across multiple lags and exposure metrics, whereas risk for asthma-related hospitalizations was higher during smoke days.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Cardiopulmonary effects of fine particulate matter exposure among older adults, during wildfire and non-wildfire periods, in U.S. 2008-2010