title: Asian dust and daily all-cause or cause-specific mortality in western Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Desert dust, which is included in course particles, is considered to have potential toxicity. The effect modification of desert dust on associations between anthropogenic air pollution and mortality has been evaluated. However, the independent effects of Asian dust are less clear. Thus, we evaluated the effects of Asian dust on mortality independent of particulate matter (PM) in western Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained daily mean concentrations of Asian dust using Light Detection and Ranging measurements and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations (approximately PM(8)) during March 2005 to December 2010. We then evaluated city-specific associations of Asian dust and SPM with daily mortality using a time-series analysis targeting 1 379 052 people aged 65 or above living in 47 cities. The city-specific results were then combined with a Bayesian-hierarchical model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Asian dust did not modify the effects of SPM on mortality. Meanwhile, Asian dust was adversely associated with mortality independent of SPM. The excess risk following a 10 μ/m(3) increase in mean of the current to the previous 2 days Asian dust concentration was 0.6% (95% CI 0.1 to 1.1) for heart disease, 0.8% (95% CI 0.1 to 1.6) for ischaemic heart disease, 2.1% (95% CI 0.3 to 3.9) for arrhythmia and 0.5% (95% CI 0.2 to 0.8) for pneumonia mortality. Furthermore, the effects of Asian dust were stronger in northern areas close to the Eurasian continent (source of Asian dust).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Asian dust had adverse effects on circulatory and respiratory mortality independent of PM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Health Policy, Hiroshima University Institute of Biomedical & Health Sciences, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan. saori_ksm@ybb.ne.jp
authors.forename: Saori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashima
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yorifuji
authors.forename: Toshihide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eboshida
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000401:mortality; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D002947:Cities; D004391:Dust; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000401:mortality*; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D052638:Particulate Matter; D012987:Soil