Association of short-term exposure to air pollution with emergency visits for respiratory diseases in children
Miao He,
Yaping Zhong,
Yuehan Chen,
Nanshan Zhong,
Kefang Lai
Affiliations
Miao He
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Damage Research and Assessment, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110122, China
Yaping Zhong
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Damage Research and Assessment, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110122, China
Yuehan Chen
State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510120, China
Nanshan Zhong
State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510120, China
Kefang Lai
State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510120, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Ambient air pollutants are health hazards to children. This study comprised 773,504 emergency department visits (EDVs) at 0–14 years of age with respiratory diseases in southern China. All air pollutants were positively associated with EDVs of total respiratory diseases, especially pneumonia. NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 had intraday effects and cumulative effects on asthma EDVs. The effect of SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 on pneumonia EDVs was stronger in girls than in boys. The effect of NO2 on acute upper respiratory tract infection EDVs was greater in children aged 0–5 years old; however, the effect of PM10 on acute upper respiratory tract infection EDVs was greater in the 6–14 years group. In a two-pollutant model, NO2 was associated with bronchitis and pneumonia, and PM10 was associated with acute upper respiratory tract infection. In this time-series study, NO2 and PM10 were risk indicators for respiratory diseases in children.
