Associations between fine particle, coarse particle, black carbon and hospital visits in a Chinese city

作者：Wang, Xi; Chen, Renjie; Meng, Xia; Geng, Fuhai; Wang, Cuicui; Kan, Haidong^*

来源：Science of the Total Environment, 2013, 458: 1-6.

DOI：10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.04.008

• Fine particle
• Coarse particle
• Black carbon
• Hospital visits

China is one of the countries with the highest ambient particle levels in the world; however, there have been no epidemiologic studies examining the effects of fine particle (PM2.5), coarse particle (PM10-2.5) and black carbon (BC) simultaneously on morbidity outcomes. In this study, we conducted a time-series analysis to evaluate the acute effects of PM2.5, PM10-2.5, and BC on daily hospital visits in Shanghai, China. During our study period, the mean daily concentrations of PM2.5. PM10-2.5 and BC were 53.9 mu g/m(3), 38.4 mu g/m(3) and 3.9 mu g/m(3), respectively. We found significant associations of PM2.5, PM10-2.5, and BC with daily hospital visits. An inter-quartile range increase of the average concentrations of the current and previous days in PM2.5. PM10-25 and BC was associated with a 1.88% (95% CI: 0.69% to 3.06%), a 130% (95% CI: 0.25% to 234%) and a 1.33% (95% CI: 0.34% to 2.32%) increase in emergency-room visits, respectively. For outpatient visits, the corresponding estimated changes were -2.44% (95% CI: -6.62% to 1.74%), 1.09% (95% CI: -2.72% to 4.90%) and 334% (95% CI: 0.10% to 6.57%) respectively. The effects of BC were more robust than the effects of PM2.5 and PM10-2.5 in two-pollutant models. To our knowledge, this is the first study in China, or even in Asian developing countries, to report the effect of PM2.5, PM10-2.5, and BC simultaneously on morbidity. Our findings also suggest that BC could serve as a valuable air quality indicator that reflects the health risks of airborne particles.

• 出版日期2013-8-1
• 单位复旦大学; 上海市气象局