The relationship of high PM_2.5 days and subsequent asthma-related hospital encounters during the fireplace season in Phoenix, AZ, 2008–2012

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• 作者：Ronald Pope ; Kara M. Stanley ; Ira Domsky ; Fuyuen Yip&#8230
• 关键词：Air pollution ; Air quality ; Asthma ; Biomass burning ; Epidemiology ; Respiratory health
• 刊名：Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：10
• 期：2
• 页码：161-169
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Environmental Health; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1873-9326
• 卷排序：10

文摘

Exposure to particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM_2.5) exacerbates asthma and increases mortality. In Phoenix, AZ, the highest PM_2.5 values frequently occur during the winter fireplace season and air quality health standards are often exceeded during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. It was clear that enhanced messaging was needed by air quality and public health authorities to discourage biomass fires (BMF) on days when unhealthful levels of pollution were likely to be caused by that activity. Demonstrating adverse health outcomes would bolster this effort. We conducted this study to evaluate associations between elevated PM_2.5 exposures during the fireplace season and asthma-related hospital admissions in Phoenix; days with average PM_2.5 > 35 μg/m3 were categorized as elevated PM_2.5 exposure. We used hospital discharge data to identify patients with an asthma-related hospital encounter and who lived within an 8-km radius of a PM_2.5 monitor. To estimate the risk of a hospital encounter following an elevated PM_2.5 event, we used generalized estimating equations, specified with a Poisson distribution, and exposure lags of 0–3 days. Controlling for influenza, temperature, humidity, rain, and year, these analyses generated elevated estimates of emergency department visit risk among adults on lag days 2 (relative risk [RR] 1.19; 95 % CI 1.06, 1.34) and 3 (RR 1.20, 95 % CI 1.05, 1.37). Elevated PM_2.5 was not associated with hospital encounters among children. Our findings suggest that adults may be at elevated risk of asthma-related hospital encounters during the fireplace season.