Relationship between air pollution and daily mortality in a subtropical city: Taipei, Taiwan.
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.
Yang
Chun-Yuh
CY
Institute of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shin-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. chunyuh@kmu.edu.tw
Chang
Chih-Ching
CC
Chuang
Hung-Yi
HY
Tsai
Shang-Shyue
SS
Wu
Trong-Neng
TN
Ho
Chi-Kung
CK
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
D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D010126:Ozone; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide