Associations between ambient air pollutants and hospital admissions: more needs to be done

Jill Jf Belch,Catherine Fitton,Bianca Cox,James D Chalmers

doi:10.1007/s11356-021-16544-0

Jill Jf Belch, Catherine Fitton + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16544-0

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Abstract

Deaths from air pollution in the UK are higher by a factor of 10 than from car crashes, 7 for drug-related deaths and 52 for murders, and yet awareness seems to be lacking in local government. We conducted an 18-year retrospective cohort study using routinely collected health care records from Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, and Perth Royal Infirmary, in Tayside, Scotland, UK, from 2000 to 2017. Hospitalisation events and deaths were linked to daily nitric oxides (NOX, NO, NO2), and particulate matter 10 (PM10) levels extracted from publicly available data over this same time period. Distributed lag models were used to estimate risk ratios for hospitalisation and mortality, adjusting for temperature, humidity, day of the week, month and public holiday. Nitric oxides and PM10 were associated with an increased risk of all hospital admissions and cardiovascular (CV) admissions on day of exposure to pollutant. This study shows a significant increase in all cause and CV hospital admissions, on high pollution days in Tayside, Scotland.

Highlights

It is estimated that 16% of deaths are related to air pollution (Landrigan et al 2018) with around 40,000 UK deaths/annum attributable to outdoor air pollution (Royal College of Physicians 2016) mostly from traffic
This extrapolates to 50 deaths a week occurring in Scotland (Royal College of Physicians 2016), the area of study
Air pollution plays a role in many health challenges and is projected by end 2031 to be the leading environmental cause of mortality globally (Royal College of Physicians 2016)

Summary

Introduction

It is estimated that 16% of deaths are related to air pollution (Landrigan et al 2018) with around 40,000 UK deaths/annum attributable to outdoor air pollution (Royal College of Physicians 2016) mostly from traffic. This extrapolates to 50 deaths a week occurring in Scotland (Royal College of Physicians 2016), the area of study. There is a frightening ignorance of the level of risk to health that occurs with air pollution, even in urban and small city regions It is the most disadvantaged who suffer most, being frequently located near busy polluting roads

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