TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of ambient non-methane hydrocarbons exposure with respiratory hospitalizations
T2 - A time series study in Taipei, Taiwan
AU - Qiu, Hong
AU - Bai, Chyi Huey
AU - Chuang, Kai Jen
AU - Fan, Yen Chun
AU - Chang, Ta Pang
AU - Yim, Steve Hung Lam
AU - Ho, Kin Fai
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported from The Vice-Chancellor's Discretionary Fund of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (project no.: 4930744 ).
Funding Information:
We express our gratitude to the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan), for providing the air pollution and meteorological data. This study is based in part on data from the National Health Insurance Research Database provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health and managed by National Health Research Institutes. The interpretation and conclusions contained herein do not represent those of National Health Insurance Administration, Department of Health or National Health Research Institutes. This study was supported from The Vice-Chancellor's Discretionary Fund of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (project no.: 4930744). This manuscript was edited by Wallace Academic Editing.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020
PY - 2020/8/10
Y1 - 2020/8/10
N2 - Ambient hydrocarbons are important precursors of ground-level ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation. However, few studies have assessed the health impact of airborne hydrocarbons. We conducted this time series ecological study to evaluate the association of short-term airborne hydrocarbons exposure with hospital admissions for respiratory diseases, while controlling for co-exposure to criteria pollutants. Taipei air pollution and weather data for the period spanning from January 2010 to December 2017 were obtained from Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network. Subsequently, daily pollutant concentrations were linked with daily hospital admission counts for respiratory diseases into a time series data frame. The standard generalized additive Poisson model adjusted for temporal trends, seasonal variations, weather conditions, and calendar effects, was applied to examine the short-term associations of acute airborne hydrocarbon exposure with respiratory hospital admissions. Next, the robustness of the associations was tested using two-pollutant models with further adjustment for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and gaseous pollutants. The results demonstrated that an interquartile range increase in non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) exposure on lag0 day (0.15 ppm) was associated with a 0.86% (95% confidence interval: 0.37%–1.36%), 2.06% (0.77%–3.38%), and 1.25% (0.31%–2.20%) increment in all-respiratory-disease-, asthma-, and chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-linked hospital admissions, respectively. The associations were robust with further adjustment for co-exposure to PM2.5 and ozone. The acute effect estimate of methane on each respiratory category was sensitive to the co-pollutant adjustment and lost statistical significance in the two-pollutant models. In conclusion, we confirmed that airborne NMHC exposure increased the risk of respiratory-disease-related hospital admissions in Taipei; this information may aid in the regulation of hydrocarbon pollution.
AB - Ambient hydrocarbons are important precursors of ground-level ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation. However, few studies have assessed the health impact of airborne hydrocarbons. We conducted this time series ecological study to evaluate the association of short-term airborne hydrocarbons exposure with hospital admissions for respiratory diseases, while controlling for co-exposure to criteria pollutants. Taipei air pollution and weather data for the period spanning from January 2010 to December 2017 were obtained from Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network. Subsequently, daily pollutant concentrations were linked with daily hospital admission counts for respiratory diseases into a time series data frame. The standard generalized additive Poisson model adjusted for temporal trends, seasonal variations, weather conditions, and calendar effects, was applied to examine the short-term associations of acute airborne hydrocarbon exposure with respiratory hospital admissions. Next, the robustness of the associations was tested using two-pollutant models with further adjustment for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and gaseous pollutants. The results demonstrated that an interquartile range increase in non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) exposure on lag0 day (0.15 ppm) was associated with a 0.86% (95% confidence interval: 0.37%–1.36%), 2.06% (0.77%–3.38%), and 1.25% (0.31%–2.20%) increment in all-respiratory-disease-, asthma-, and chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-linked hospital admissions, respectively. The associations were robust with further adjustment for co-exposure to PM2.5 and ozone. The acute effect estimate of methane on each respiratory category was sensitive to the co-pollutant adjustment and lost statistical significance in the two-pollutant models. In conclusion, we confirmed that airborne NMHC exposure increased the risk of respiratory-disease-related hospital admissions in Taipei; this information may aid in the regulation of hydrocarbon pollution.
KW - Airborne hydrocarbons
KW - Hospital admissions
KW - Respiratory diseases
KW - Time series study
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U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139010
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139010
M3 - Article
C2 - 32361457
AN - SCOPUS:85083817808
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 729
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 139010
ER -