Associations of Wildfire-specific PM2.5 Exposure on Cardiorespiratory Events in Colorado 2011-2014
Abstract
Substantial increases in wildfire activity have been seen in recent years. Wildfire impacts on concentration of particulate matter <= 2.5μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) are particularly concerning due to potential adverse health effects. The purpose of this study is to estimate the cardiorespiratory health effects due to wildfire-specific PM2.5 exposure using novel high-resolution methods for separating wildfire PM2.5 from total PM2.5 measurements.
Emergency department visits/hospitalizations (EDH) for acute cardiorespiratory outcomes were obtained from Colorado for May-August, 2011-2014. Combining ground observations, chemical transport model simulations, remotely sensed fire and aerosol data, we estimated fire smoke PM2.5 concentrations as our main exposure metric while keeping total ambient PM2.5 as a confounder in the epidemiologic model. Using conditional logistic regression, we estimated associations for overall and age-stratified outcomes using 2-day exposure windows for cardiovascular and 3-day for respiratory. Using 490,368 EDH we estimated odds ratios (OR) of exposure to total and fire PM2.5. Associations with total PM2.5 were null for all outcomes. Per 1 μg/m3 increase in fire smoke PM2.5, statistically significant associations were found for asthma (OR=1.141, 95% CI=(1.104, 1.179)) and combined respiratory disease (OR=1.036, 95% CI=(1.022, 1.050)). Age-stratified fire-related PM2.5 revealed multiple respiratory associations. Children exhibited increases in asthma (OR=1.120, 95% CI=(1.059, 1.185)) and combined respiratory disease (OR=1.027, 95% CI=(1.004, 1.051)). Adults showed positive associations for asthma (OR=1.165, 95% CI= (1.116, 1.216)), bronchitis (OR=1.087, CI 95% CI=(1.027, 1.151)), COPD (OR=1.078, 95% CI=(1.012, 1.149)), and combined respiratory disease (OR=1.051, 95% CI=(1.030, 1.072)). This is the first multi-year, high-resolution study to incorporate methods separating PM2.5 due to wildfires. These findings show distinct associations between wildfire activity and acute respiratory health after controlling for total ambient PM2.5 levels. These enhanced, higher-resolution exposure methods provide a new approach to distinguishing fire-related exposures from non-fire exposure.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMGH11A..03S
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0230 Impacts of climate change: human health;
- GEOHEALTHDE: 0240 Public health;
- GEOHEALTH