The burden of air pollution on years of life lost in Beijing, China, 2004-08: retrospective regression analysis of daily deaths

Abstract

Objectives To better understand the burden of air pollution on deaths, we examined the effects of air pollutants on years of life lost (YLL) in Beijing, China.Design Retrospective regression analysis using daily time series.Setting 8 urban districts in Beijing, China.Participants 80 515 deaths (48 802 male, 31 713 female) recorded by the Beijing death classification system during 2004-08. Main outcome measuresAssociations between daily YLL and ambient air pollutants (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ), PM 10 , SO 2 , and NO 2 ), after adjusting for long term trends, seasonality, day of the week, and weather conditions. We also examined mortality risk related to air pollutants. , respectively. All air pollutants had significant effects on years of life lost when we used single pollutant models. An interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , and NO 2 was related to YLL increases of 15.8, 15.8, 16.2, and 15.1 years, respectively. The effects of air pollutants on YLL appeared acutely and lasted for two days (lag 0-1); these effects associated with an IQR increase in PM 2.5 were greater in women than men (11.1 (95% confidence interval 4.7 to 17.5) v 4.7 (−2.9 to 12.3) YLL) and in people aged up to 65 years than those older than 65 years (12.0 (2.9 to 21) v 3.8 (−0.9 to 8.6) YLL). The mortality risk associated with an IQR increase in PM 2.5 was greater for people older than 65 years (2.5% (95% confidence interval 0.6% to 4.5%) increase of mortality) than those aged up to 65 years (0.7% (−0.8% to 2.2%)). ResultsConclusions YLL provides a complementary measure for examining the effect of air pollutants on mortality. Increased YLL are associated with increased air pollution. This study highlights the need to reduce air pollution in Beijing, China, to protect the health of the population. IntroductionThe effects of air pollution on human health have recently attracted increasing concern in China, in part due to the increasing number of days with very high levels of air pollution.1 2 In most Chinese cities, concentrations of PM 2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm) are still far above the level recommended by the World Health Organization's guidelines on air quality (interim target 2 level) of 10 μg/m 3 (annual average) and 25 μg/m 3 (24 h average). 3 For example, in 2004-08, mean daily PM 2.5 concentration was 105 μg/m 3 in Beijing. Beijing is experiencing increasing population density, car use, and expanded construction. It is surrounded by a heavy industrial region, which provides additional sources of air pollutants carried via air flow. Consequently, the ambient pollutant mixture is complex, with the potential for combined toxic effects from many constituents.Reliable estimation of the burden of air pollution on health is essential to support evidence based government policy in this important public health area.4 5 Previous studies have examined the effects of air pollution on daily excess deaths or mortality risks using time series methods.6 7...

The mutual influences of man-made pollutants and allergic manifestations

“…These findings are in line with the earlier report of Guo et al that showed the mortality risk was higher for older people than for those aged 65 years or younger. Interestingly, they also showed that the effect estimates of PM2.5 and PM10 on YLL were higher in women than men, with the opposite for SO 2 and NO 2 (Guo, Li et al, 2013). Similar findings have been reported on the relation between air pollution and premature elderly deaths in Moscow, Russia (Revich and Shaposhnikov, 2010;Shaposhnikov, Revich et al, 2014).…”

MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on type 2 diabetes mellitus risk: a systemic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

“…The adverse effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on type 2 diabetes risk is of much importance given the extraordinary confluence of high levels of air pollutants in urbanized environments, especially in rapidly urbanizing countries (23,25,26). Air pollution in China is a significant public health burden, especially in spring and winter (26,27). The pooled results of standardized risk estimates in the present meta-analysis suggest an obvious association of type 2 diabetes risk with long-term exposure to PM2.5 (Fig.…”

Fusing Observational, Satellite Remote Sensing and Air Quality Model Simulated Data to Estimate Spatiotemporal Variations of PM2.5 Exposure in China

“…Accurately assessing PM 2.5 exposure is critical for estimating its health risks in such epidemiological studies. However, due to the limited number of ground monitors in China, previous studies generally ignored the spatial variation of PM 2.5 and assessed the ambient exposure uniformly using one monitor or averages of several monitors located within a city or a municipality [13][14][15][16], which causes exposure misclassification. Therefore, accurately estimating the fine-scale spatiotemporal variation of ground PM 2.5 may lay a foundation for future health-related studies of PM 2.5 in China.…”

“…Severe PM 2.5 pollution in China has attracted considerable public attention [10][11][12] and inspired numerous epidemiological studies to investigate the health effects of air pollution in China since 2013 [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Accurately assessing PM 2.5 exposure is critical for estimating its health risks in such epidemiological studies.…”