Associations Between Fine Particulate Matter Components and Daily Mortality in Nagoya, Japan

Abstract

BackgroundSeasonal variation and regional heterogeneity have been observed in the estimated effect of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) mass on mortality. Differences in the chemical compositions of PM2.5 may cause this variation. We investigated the association of the daily concentration of PM2.5 components with mortality in Nagoya, Japan.MethodsWe combined daily mortality counts for all residents aged 65 years and older with concentration data for PM2.5 mass and components in Nagoya from April 2003 to December 2007. A time-stratified case-crossover design was used to examine the association of daily mortality with PM2.5 mass and each component (chloride, nitrate, sulfate, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, ammonium, elemental carbon [EC], and organic carbon [OC]).ResultsWe found a stronger association between mortality and PM2.5 mass in transitional seasons. In analysis for each PM2.5 component, sulfate, nitrate, chloride, ammonium, potassium, EC, and OC were significantly associated with mortality in a single-pollutant model. In a multi-pollutant model, an interquartile range increase in the concentration of sulfate was marginally associated with an increase in all-cause mortality of 2.1% (95% confidence interval, −0.1 to 4.4).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that some specific PM components have a more hazardous effect than others and contribute to seasonal variation in the health effects of PM2.5.

Ambient air pollution is associated with pediatric pneumonia: a time-stratified case–crossover study in an urban area

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“…The present study revealed that ORs for NO 2 were higher during the warm days ( p = 0.011). One possible reason for this result is that variable concentrations of air pollutants and each PM component may relate to seasonal differences in human health [40, 41]. Seasonal variations may also result from different patterns of exposure to air pollutants.…”

The Gender-Based Differences in Vulnerability to Ambient Air Pollution and Cerebrovascular Disease Mortality: Evidences Based on 26781 Deaths

“…Although more papers reported women as the susceptible gender to ambient air pollution, there are also studies indicated that the mortality of men was more sensitive to PM 2.5 [ 9 32 33 ]. These variations of the gender-based vulnerability to PM 2.5 across the studies may be due to different components of PMs as well as their proportions, since the components vary significantly across regions [ 34 35 ]. The haze is also a key risk for circulatory mortality, and most of the haze days in Shenyang occurred in winter [ 36 ].…”

Comparison of Short-Term Associations between PM2.5 Components and Mortality across Six Major Cities in South Korea

“…Different PM 2.5 chemical compositions and health effects have gained increasing attention in Asian countries, where PM 2.5 concentrations are high—possibly driven by diverse pollution sources related to rapid urban development—and could affect large populations [11,12]. However, only a few single-city studies have been conducted in Asia, primarily due to the lack of PM 2.5 chemical component data [11,13,14,15,16,17]. The South Korean government established nationwide PM 2.5 chemical speciation networks in 2011 in order to identify major sources of PM 2.5 and monitor the level of chemical component concentrations [18].…”