Estimating Acute Cardiorespiratory Effects of Ambient Volatile Organic Compounds

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Dongni Ye, Emory University; Mitchel Klein, Emory University; Howard Chang, Emory University; Jeremy Sarnat, Emory University; James A. Mulholland, Georgia Institute of Technology; Eric S. Edgerton, Atmospheric Research & Analysis, Inc.; Andrea Winquist, Emory University; Paige Tolbert, Emory University; Stefanie Ebelt Sarnat, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-03-01
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0000000000000607
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Epidemiology
• ISSN: 1044-3983
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 197
• End Page: 206
• Grant/Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by funding from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI, 10002467).; This publication was also made possible by a Clean Air Research Center grant to Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology from the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, RD834799), as well as by grants to Emory University from the USEPA (R82921301), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES11294), and EPRI (EP-P27723/C13172 and EP-P4353/C2124).
• Keywords: Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; AEROSOL RESEARCH; HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS; CORONARY-ARTERY-DISEASE; ASSOCIATIONS; HEALTH; ASTHMA; PARTICULATE AIR-POLLUTION; RESPIRATORY-DISEASES; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; EMERGENCY-DEPARTMENT VISITS; Science & Technology; SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION
• Research Categories: Environmental Sciences; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Background: The health effects of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have received less attention in epidemiologic studies than other commonly measured ambient pollutants. In this study, we estimated acute cardiorespiratory effects of ambient VOCs in an urban population. Methods: Daily concentrations of 89 VOCs were measured at a centrally-located ambient monitoring site in Atlanta and daily counts of emergency department visits for cardiovascular diseases and asthma in the five-county Atlanta area were obtained for the 1998-2008 period. To understand the health effects of the large number of species, we grouped these VOCs a priori by chemical structure and estimated the associations between VOC groups and daily counts of emergency department visits in a time-series framework using Poisson regression. We applied three analytic approaches to estimate the VOC group effects: an indicator pollutant approach, a joint effect analysis, and a random effect meta-analysis, each with different assumptions. We performed sensitivity analyses to evaluate copollutant confounding. Results: Hydrocarbon groups, particularly alkenes and alkynes, were associated with emergency department visits for cardiovascular diseases, while the ketone group was associated with emergency department visits for asthma. Conclusions: The associations observed between emergency department visits for cardiovascular diseases and alkenes and alkynes may reflect the role of traffic exhaust, while the association between asthma visits and ketones may reflect the role of secondary organic compounds. The different patterns of associations we observed for cardiovascular diseases and asthma suggest different modes of action of these pollutants or the mixtures they represent.