Relationship between summertime ambient ozone levels and emergency department visits for asthma in central New Jersey.

Abstract

The 5-year retrospective study of the association between temperature and emergency department (ED) visits for asthma with mean ambient ozone levels between 10:00 and 15:00 was conducted in central New Jersey during the summer months. An association was identified in each of the years (1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990). Between 8 and 34% of the total variance in ED visits for asthma was explained by the two environmental variables in the step-wise multiple regression analysis. ED visits occurred 28% more frequently when the mean ozone levels were >0.06 ppm than when they were < 0.06 ppm. This result was statistically significant in a covariance analysis. An evaluation of the effects of ozone on asthmatics reported in the literature was completed to determine if, as proposed by Bates, the results from different types of studies were coherent among the health metrics. A consistency in the magnitude of reported effects and the time lag between exposure and response for four different health indices (symptom reports, decrements in expiratory flow, ED visits, and hospital admissions) was identified and indicates a coherence between ozone and respiratory response to ozone exposure. This supports a proposition that ozone adversely affects asthmatics at levels below the current U.S. standard. -Environ Health Perspect 103(Suppl 2): 97-102 (1995)

Respiratory health effects of air pollution: Update on biomass smoke and traffic pollution

“…(59) More complex cohort study designs have been required to understand whether or not traffic-related pollutants play a role in the genesis, or causation, of asthma. To date all such investigations in a non-occupational setting have related to chronic, rather than acute, air pollution exposures.…”

Health-Related Benefits of Attaining the 8-Hr Ozone Standard

“…We used three studies as the source for the concentration–response functions we used to estimate the effects of ozone exposure on asthma-related ED visits: Cody et al (1992), Weisel et al (1995), and Stieb et al (1996). We estimated the change in ED visits using the effect estimate from each study and then pooled the results using the random-effects pooling procedure described in the Supplemental Material (http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/7186/suppl.pdf).…”

Temporal and Spatial Distributions of Ozone in Atlanta: Regulatory and Epidemiologic Implications

“…The results shown in Table 6 are consistent with the findings of a number of previous studies. 3,8,[11][12][13] In a model that included temporal covariates (to remove long-term trends in exposure and asthma ER visit rates), the odds ratio was 1.04 per 20 ppb ozone, roughly interpretable as follows: an increase of 20 ppb in the ambient ozone level is associated with a 4% increase in the rate of ER visits for asthma. The ozone data are not available, spatial resolution of air quality parameters should not be incorporated into the study design because the loss of validity resulting from uncontrolled confounding is likely to outweigh the benefit of increased precision.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Findings of these and other studies have been cited in support of the revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter. In one study, White et al 8 examined the relationship between emergency room visits to a hospital in downtown Atlanta for childhood asthma and ambient ozone levels during the summer of 1990.…”