title: Air pollution and hospital emergency room and admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Doña Ana County, New Mexico.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Doña Ana County in New Mexico regularly experiences severe air pollution episodes associated with windblown dust and fires. Residents of Hispanic/Latino origin constitute the largest population group in the region. We investigated the associations of ambient particulate matter and ozone with hospital emergency room and admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular visits in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used trajectories regression analysis to determine the local and regional components of particle mass and ozone. We applied Poisson generalized models to analyze hospital emergency room visits and admissions adjusted for pollutant levels, humidity, temperature and temporal and seasonal effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the sources within 500km of the study area accounted for most of particle mass and ozone concentrations. Sources in Southeast Texas, Baja California and Southwest US were the most important regional contributors. Increases of cardiovascular emergency room visits were estimated for PM10 (3.1% (95% CI: -0.5 to 6.8)) and PM10-2.5 (2.8% (95% CI: -0.2 to 5.9)) for all adults during the warm period (April-September). When high PM10 (>150μg/m(3)) mass concentrations were excluded, strong effects for respiratory emergency room visits for both PM10 (3.2% (95% CI: 0.5-6.0)) and PM2.5 (5.2% (95% CI: -0.5 to 11.3)) were computed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis indicated effects of PM10, PM2.5 and O3 on emergency room visits during the April-September period in a region impacted by windblown dust and wildfires.
authors: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Goudi, 115 27 Athens, Greece.
authors: Sophia
authors: S
authors: Rodopoulou
authors: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Public Health, 4301 West Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205-7199, USA.
authors: Marie-Cecile
authors: MC
authors: Chalbot
authors: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Goudi, 115 27 Athens, Greece.
authors: Evangelia
authors: E
authors: Samoli
authors: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Box 30003 MSC 3Q, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003, USA.
authors: David W
authors: DW
authors: Dubois
authors: Memorial Medical Center, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003, USA.
authors: Bruce D
authors: BD
authors: San Filippo
authors: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Public Health, 4301 West Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205-7199, USA. Electronic address: ikavouras@uams.edu.
authors: Ilias G
authors: IG
authors: Kavouras
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D009516:New Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D010126:Ozone / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter; D010126:Ozone
keywords: Emergency room visits; Hospital admissions; Morbidity; Particulate matter; Rural communities; Time-series regression