Abstract
Several studies have reported that air pollution and climatic factors are major contributors to human morbidity and mortality globally. However, the combined interactive effects of air pollution and climatic factors on human health remain largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate the interactive effects of air pollution and climatic factors on circulatory and respiratory mortality in Xi’an, China. Time-series analysis and the distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) were employed as the study design and core statistical method. The interaction relative risk (IRR) and relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) for temperature and Air Quality Index (AQI) interaction on circulatory mortality were 0.973(0.969, 0.977) and −0.055(−0.059, −0.048), respectively; while for relative humidity and AQI interaction, 1.098(1.011, 1.072) and 0.088(0.081, 0.107) respectively, were estimated. Additionally, the IRR and RERI for temperature and AQI interaction on respiratory mortality were 0.805(0.722, 0.896) and −0.235(−0.269, −0.163) respectively, while 1.008(0.965, 1.051) and −0.031(−0.088, 0.025) respectively were estimated for relative humidity and AQI interaction. The interaction effects of climatic factors and AQI were synergistic and antagonistic in relation to circulatory and respiratory mortality, respectively. Interaction between climatic factors and air pollution contributes significantly to circulatory and respiratory mortality.
Highlights
Ambient air pollution continues to be a dire human health threat, contributing to premature deaths in different parts of the world, more especially in the urban areas of developed and developing countries, reflecting the effects of increased urbanization, rapid industrialization, intensified use of fossil fuels, and surge in traffic volumes
Various studies have reviewed the literature on the epidemiological evidence of mortality associated with short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants in China, where they highlighted that climatic factors played a critical role in the association between air pollution and mortality [3,4]
The effects of interaction differ based on the health outcome; as observed, temperature noted a synergistic relationship with individual air pollutants, rather than
Summary
Ambient air pollution continues to be a dire human health threat, contributing to premature deaths in different parts of the world, more especially in the urban areas of developed and developing countries, reflecting the effects of increased urbanization, rapid industrialization, intensified use of fossil fuels, and surge in traffic volumes. Ambient air pollution comprising a complex mixture of both particles and gases remains a significant public health concern that continues to be associated with both acute and chronic health effects globally, with developing countries being the most affected [1,2]. Exposure to ambient air pollutants has for decades been reported as a cause of both circulatory and respiratory mortality. Public Health 2020, 17, 9027; doi:10.3390/ijerph17239027 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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