Asthma aggravation, combustion, and stagnant air
Gary Norrisa, Timothy Larsona, Jane Koeniga, Candis Claibornb, Lianne Shepparda, Dennis Finnb
a University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA, b Washington
State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
Correspondence to: Dr J Q Koenig, Department of Environmental Health, 357234, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
Received 27 May 1998; Returned to authors 31 July 1998; Revised version received 21 February 2000; Accepted for publication 21 February 2000
BACKGROUND
The
relationship between current concentrations of ambient air pollution
and adverse health effects is controversial. We report a meteorological
index of air stagnation that is associated with daily visits to the
emergency department for asthma in two urban areas.
METHODSData on daily
values of a stagnation persistence index and visits to the emergency
department for asthma were collected for approximately two years in
Spokane, Washington, USA and for 15 months in Seattle, Washington, USA.
The stagnation persistence index represents the number of hours during
the 24 hour day when surface wind speeds are less than the annual
hourly median value, an index readily available for most urban areas.
Associations between the daily stagnation persistence index and daily
emergency department visits for asthma were tested using a generalised
additive Poisson regression model. A factor analysis of particulate
matter (PM2.5) composition was performed to identify the
pollutants associated with increased asthma visits.
RESULTSThe relative
rate of the association between a visit to the emergency department for
asthma and the stagnation persistence index was 1. 12 (95% CI 1.05 to
1.19) in Spokane and 1.21 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.35) in Seattle for an
increase of 11 and 10 hours, respectively, of low wind speed in a given
day. The stagnation persistence index was only correlated with one set
of factor loadings; that cluster included the stagnation persistence
index, carbon monoxide, and organic/elemental carbon.
CONCLUSIONIncreased
air stagnation was shown to be a surrogate for accumulation of the
products of incomplete combustion, including carbon monoxide and fine
particulate levels of organic and elemental carbon, and was more
strongly associated with asthma aggravation than any one of the
measured pollutants.
Keywords: asthma; air stagnation; wind speed; air pollution
© 2000 by Thorax
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