title: Association between residential proximity to fuel-fired power plants and hospitalization rate for respiratory diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Air pollution is known to cause respiratory disease. Unlike motor vehicle sources, fuel-fired power plants are stationary.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Using hospitalization data, we examined whether living near a fuel-fired power plant increases the likelihood of hospitalization for respiratory disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rates of hospitalization for asthma, acute respiratory infection (ARI), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were estimated using hospitalization data for 1993-2008 from New York State in relation to data for residences near fuel-fired power plants. We also explored data for residential proximity to hazardous waste sites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for age, sex, race, median household income, and rural/urban residence, there were significant 11%, 15%, and 17% increases in estimated rates of hospitalization for asthma, ARI, and COPD, respectively, among individuals > 10 years of age living in a ZIP code containing a fuel-fired power plant compared with one that had no power plant. Living in a ZIP code with a fuel-fired power plant was not significantly associated with hospitalization for asthma or ARI among children < 10 years of age. Living in a ZIP code with a hazardous waste site was associated with hospitalization for all outcomes in both age groups, and joint effect estimates were approximately additive for living in a ZIP code that contained a fuel-fired power plant and a hazardous waste site.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to air pollution from fuel-fired power plants and volatile compounds coming from hazardous waste sites increases the risk of hospitalization for respiratory diseases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lessner
authors.forename: David O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Carpenter
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D003710:Demography; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005579:Fossil Fuels / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D011210:Power Plants; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D005579:Fossil Fuels