Abstract
BackgroundThere has been growing global concern about air pollution due to its great risk to public health. In Japan, although industrial- and traffic-related air pollution has been decreasing, concerns about particulate matter air pollution has been growing in recent years. In this study, we examined the effects of air pollution on symptoms and the health status of healthy subjects in Japan.MethodsParticipants (n = 2887) who visited healthcare centers in Kumamoto or Niigata prefectures in February from 2010 to 2015 were asked to fill out a questionnaire, which was a self-completed booklet containing questions on the characteristics of participants, their respiratory symptoms, and questionnaires on their health status in February, May, and July. Generalized estimating equation analyses were performed to predict the factors associated with the symptoms and health status using two-week averages of air quality parameters obtained from 49 monitoring stations as independent variables.ResultsOnly allergy was associated with air quality in both areas. Prevalence of the other respiratory symptoms were correlated with air quality only in Kumamoto. The health statuses including the ‘physical fitness’, ‘daily activities’, and ‘social activities’ domains were related only to time spent outdoors. The ‘overall health’ was associated with time spent outdoors and concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate matters (SPM) in Kumamoto, and with temperatures and SPM in Niigata. The ‘pain’ score was correlated with temperature and carbon monoxide concentration only in Kumamoto. In Kumamoto, the ‘quality of life (QoL)’ was worse in those who spent shorter hours outdoors, were exposed to lower humidity, higher concentrations of oxidants, SPM, and PM2.5, and who experienced more Asian sand dust (ASD) events. In Niigata, a worsened ‘QoL’ was associated with time spent outdoors, temperature, and SPM.ConclusionsThe associations between air quality and the health status was found mainly in the comprehensive domain of the health status such as ‘overall health’ and ‘QoL’. The effect of short-term exposure to larger particles, such as SPM, on health status was observed when compared to smaller particles such as PM2.5 and gaseous pollutants.
Highlights
There has been growing global concern about air pollution due to its great risk to public health
We examined the effects of air pollution including Asian sand dust (ASD) events on the symptoms and the health status of healthy subjects in two geographically distinct areas; Kumamoto in southwest Japan where air pollution is relatively high due to transboundary air pollution, and Niigata in the mid-north of Honshu island where air pollution is relatively mild
Subjects who agreed to participate in the present study received a self-completed questionnaire, which is the Japanese version of the questionnaire used in our previous study [22]
Summary
There has been growing global concern about air pollution due to its great risk to public health. Global concern about air pollution has been glowing due to its great risk to public health. During the 1970s, air pollution due to motor vehicle exhaust containing nitrogen dioxide and particulate matters became a serious problem. This traffic-related air pollution was linked to the onset and aggravation of childhood asthma in cities along major roads with heavy traffic [3]. These air pollutions have been decreasing through efforts by policymakers and public administrations through enforcement of legislation against air pollution such as the Basic Act for Environmental Pollution Control (1967) and the Air Pollution Control Act (1968) [4]
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