title: Health risks caused by short term exposure to ultrafine particles generated by residential wood combustion: a case study of Temuco, Chile.
abstract: Temuco is one of the most highly wood smoke polluted cities in Chile; however, there is scarce evidence of respiratory morbidity due to fine particulate matter. We aimed to estimate the relationship between daily concentration of ultrafine particles (UFP), with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 0.1 μm, and outpatient visits for respiratory illness at medical care centers of Temuco, Chile, from August the 20th, 2009 to June the 30th, 2011. The Air Pollution Health Effects European Approach (APHEA2) protocol was followed, and a multivariate semi-parametric Poisson regression model was fitted with GAM techniques using R-Project statistical package; controlling for trend, seasonality, and confounders. The daily UFP were measured by a MOUDI NR-110 sampler. We found that results of the statistical analyses show significant associations between UFP and respiratory outpatient visits, with the elderly (population ≥ 65 years), being the group that presented the greatest risk. An interquartile increase of 4.73 μg/m(3) in UFP (lag 5 days) was associated with respiratory outpatient visits with a relative risk (RR) of 1.1458 [95% CI (1.0497-1.2507)] for the elderly. These results show novel findings regarding the relevance of daily UFP concentrations and health risk, especially for susceptible population in a wood smoke polluted city.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Energías Renovables, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Chile. Electronic address: ldiaz@uct.cl.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Díaz-Robles
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de los Andes, Chile.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vergara-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Ministerio del Medio Ambiente, Araucanía, Chile.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Etcharren
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Energías Renovables, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Chile.
authors.forename: Luis N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Schiappacasse
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.affiliation: Hospital Clínico de la Universidad Mayor, Chile.
authors.forename: María P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000633:toxicity*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000187:drug effects*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012306:Risk; D012906:Smoke / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013995:Time; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter; D012906:Smoke
keywords: APHEA2; Chile; Relative risk; Residential wood combustion; Temuco; Ultrafine particles