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Secondary organic aerosol association with cardiorespiratory disease mortality in the United States
Citation:
Pye, H., C. Ward-Caviness, B. Murphy, Keith Wyat Appel, AND K. Seltzer. Secondary organic aerosol association with cardiorespiratory disease mortality in the United States. NATURE. Nature Publishing Group, New York, NY, 12:7215, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27484-1
Impact/Purpose:
Fine particle pollution, PM2.5, is associated with increased risk of death from cardiorespiratory diseases. Over the past few decades in the United States (U.S.), PM2.5 composition has shifted towards an increase in the relative abundance of organic versus inorganic components, and these organic components are dominated by secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed in the atmosphere. Here we show SOA is strongly associated with county-level cardiorespiratory death rates in the U.S. independent of the total PM2.5 mass association. Compared to PM2.5, spatial variability in SOA across the U.S. is associated with 3.5× greater per capita county-level cardiorespiratory mortality. Our results suggest reducing the health impacts of PM2.5 via emission controls requires consideration of SOA.
Description:
Fine particle pollution, PM2.5, is associated with increased risk of death from cardiorespiratory diseases. A multidecadal shift in the United States (U.S.) PM2.5 composition towards organic aerosol as well as advances in predictive algorithms for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) allows for novel examinations of the role of PM2.5 components on mortality. Here we show SOA is strongly associated with county-level cardiorespiratory death rates in the U.S. independent of the total PM2.5 mass association with the largest associations located in the southeastern U.S. Compared to PM2.5, county-level variability in SOA across the U.S. is associated with 3.5× greater per capita county-level cardiorespiratory mortality. On a per mass basis, SOA is associated with a 6.5× higher rate of mortality than PM2.5, and biogenic and anthropogenic carbon sources both play a role in the overall SOA association with mortality. Our results suggest reducing the health impacts of PM2.5 requires consideration of SOA.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Secondary organic aerosol association with cardiorespiratory disease mortality in the United States
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27484-1