title: Relationship between air pollution and daily mortality in a subtropical city: Taipei, Taiwan.
abstract: Air pollution has been associated with daily mortality in numerous studies over the past decade. However most of these studies were conducted in the United States and Europe with relatively few done in Asia. In the current study, the association between ambient air pollution and daily mortality in Taipei, Taiwan's largest city which has a subtropical climate was undertaken, for the period 1994-1998 using a case-crossover analysis. This design is an alternative to Poisson time series regression for studying the short-term adverse health effects of air pollution. The air pollutants examined included particulate matter (PM(10)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), ozone (O(3)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), and carbon monoxide (CO). The largest observed effect, which was without statistical significance, was seen for NO(2) and CO levels on deaths due to respiratory diseases (ORs=1.013 and 1.014, respectively). The well established link between air pollution levels and daily mortality may not be as strong in cities in subtropical areas, although other factors such as differences in pollutant mix or the underlying health of the population may explain the lack of a strong association in this study. Further studies of this type in cities with varying climates and cultures are needed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shin-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. chunyuh@kmu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Chun-Yuh
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chih-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Hung-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Shang-Shyue
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Trong-Neng
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chi-Kung
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis; D002947:Cities; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009026:Mortality; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010126:Ozone / Q000032:analysis; D010316:Particle Size; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000401:mortality; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D010126:Ozone; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide