TY - JOUR
T1 - Short-term association between sulfur dioxide and daily mortality
T2 - The Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia (PAPA) study
AU - the PAPA Project Teams
AU - Kan, Haidong
AU - Wong, Chit Ming
AU - Vichit-Vadakan, Nuntavarn
AU - Qian, Zhengmin
AU - Vajanapoom, N.
AU - Ostro, B.
AU - Wong, C. M.
AU - Thach, T. Q.
AU - Chau, P. Y.K.
AU - Chan, K. P.
AU - Chung, R. Y.
AU - Ou, C. Q.
AU - Yang, L.
AU - Thomas, G. N.
AU - Lam, T. H.
AU - Hedley, A. J.
AU - Peiris, J. S.M.
AU - Wong, T. W.
AU - Chen, B.
AU - Zhao, N.
AU - Zhang, Y.
AU - London, S. J.
AU - Song, G.
AU - Jiang, L.
AU - Chen, G.
AU - Qian, Z.
AU - Lin, H. M.
AU - Bentley, C. M.
AU - Lin, H. M.
AU - He, Q.
AU - Kong, L.
AU - Yang, N.
AU - Zhou, D.
AU - Xu, S.
AU - Liu, W.
PY - 2010/4/1
Y1 - 2010/4/1
N2 - Sulfur dioxide (SO2) has been associated with increased mortality and morbidity, but only few studies were conducted in Asian countries. Previous studies suggest that SO2may have adverse health effects independent of other pollutants. In the Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia (PAPA) project, the short-term associations between ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) and daily mortality were examined in Bangkok, Thailand, and three Chinese cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Wuhan. Poisson regression models incorporating natural spline smoothing functions were used to adjust for seasonality and other time-varying covariates. Effect estimates were obtained for each city and then for the cities combined. The impact of alternative model specifications, such as lag structure of pollutants and degree of freedom (df) for time trend, on the estimated effects of SO2were also examined. In both individual-city and combined analysis, significant effects of SO2on total non-accidental and cardiopulmonary mortality were observed. An increase of 10 μg/m3of 2-day moving average concentrations of SO2corresponded to 1.00% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.75-1.24], 1.09% (95% CI, 0.71-1.47), and 1.47% (95% CI, 0.85-2.08) increase of total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, respectively, in the combined analysis. Sensitivity analyzes suggested that these findings were generally insensitive to alternative model specifications. After adjustment for PM10or O3, the effect of SO2remained significant in three Chinese cities. However, adjustment for NO2diminished the associations and rendered them statistically insignificant in all four cities. In conclusion, ambient SO2concentration was associated with daily mortality in these four Asian cities. These associations may be attributable to SO2serving as a surrogate of other substances. Our findings suggest that the role of outdoor exposure to SO2should be investigated further in this region.
AB - Sulfur dioxide (SO2) has been associated with increased mortality and morbidity, but only few studies were conducted in Asian countries. Previous studies suggest that SO2may have adverse health effects independent of other pollutants. In the Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia (PAPA) project, the short-term associations between ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) and daily mortality were examined in Bangkok, Thailand, and three Chinese cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Wuhan. Poisson regression models incorporating natural spline smoothing functions were used to adjust for seasonality and other time-varying covariates. Effect estimates were obtained for each city and then for the cities combined. The impact of alternative model specifications, such as lag structure of pollutants and degree of freedom (df) for time trend, on the estimated effects of SO2were also examined. In both individual-city and combined analysis, significant effects of SO2on total non-accidental and cardiopulmonary mortality were observed. An increase of 10 μg/m3of 2-day moving average concentrations of SO2corresponded to 1.00% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.75-1.24], 1.09% (95% CI, 0.71-1.47), and 1.47% (95% CI, 0.85-2.08) increase of total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, respectively, in the combined analysis. Sensitivity analyzes suggested that these findings were generally insensitive to alternative model specifications. After adjustment for PM10or O3, the effect of SO2remained significant in three Chinese cities. However, adjustment for NO2diminished the associations and rendered them statistically insignificant in all four cities. In conclusion, ambient SO2concentration was associated with daily mortality in these four Asian cities. These associations may be attributable to SO2serving as a surrogate of other substances. Our findings suggest that the role of outdoor exposure to SO2should be investigated further in this region.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2010.01.006
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2010.01.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 20122685
AN - SCOPUS:77649272936
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 110
SP - 258
EP - 264
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
IS - 3
ER -