Ambient air pollution and years of life lost in Ningbo, China.

Tianfeng He,Jinling Tang,Zuyao Yang,Xiaohong Fu,Xujun Qian,Chen Mao,Zhiwei Xu,Yuelun Zhang,Shankuan Zhu,Guozhang Xu,Yong Wang,Yueping Shen,Tao Liu

doi:10.1038/srep22485

Abstract

To evaluate the burden of air pollution on years of life lost (YLL) in addition to mortality, we conducted a time series analysis based on the data on air pollution, meteorological conditions and 163,704 non-accidental deaths of Ningbo, China, 2009–2013. The mean concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 μm, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide were 84.0 μg/m3, 60.1 μg/m3, 25.1 μg/m3 and 41.7 μg/m3, respectively. An increase of 10-μg/m3 in particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 μm, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide was associated with 4.27 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–7.38), 2.97 (95% CI −2.01–7.95), 29.98 (95% CI 19.21–40.76) and 16.58 (95% CI 8.19–24.97) YLL, respectively, and 0.53% (95% CI 0.29–0.76%), 0.57% (95% CI 0.20–0.95%), 2.89% (95% CI 2.04–3.76%), and 1.65% (95% CI 1.01–2.30%) increase of daily death counts, respectively. The impact of air pollution lasted for four days (lag 0–3), and were more significant in the elderly than in the young population for both outcomes. These findings clarify the burden of air pollution on YLL and highlight the importance and urgency of air pollution control in China.

Highlights

The association with air pollutants lasted for four days, and the lag patterns were similar for YLL and daily death counts (Fig. 2)
The present study based on data of 163,704 non-accidental deaths over a five-year period found that PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 were all associated with YLL
Our analysis demonstrated a general trend that the associations of air pollution with daily death counts and YLL were both stronger in the elderly than in younger people

Summary

Introduction

E. et al Investigating regional differences in short-term effects of air pollution on daily mortality in the APHEA project: a sensitivity analysis for controlling long-term trends and seasonality. M. et al Effect of air pollution on daily mortality in Hong Kong. D. et al Seasonal analyses of air pollution and mortality in 100 US cities. Temperature modifies the health effects of particulate matter in Brisbane, Australia.

Methods

Results

Conclusion