Associations between Ambient Fine Particulate Oxidative Potential and Cardiorespiratory Emergency Department Visits

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Joseph Y. Abrams, Emory University; Rodney J. Weber, Georgia Institute of Technology; Mitchel Klein, Emory University; Stefanie Ebelt Sarnat, Emory University; Howard Chang, Emory University; Matthew Strickland, Emory University; Vishal Verma, University of Illinois; Ting Fang, Georgia Institute of Technology; Josephine T. Bates, Georgia Institute of Technology; James A. Mulholland, Georgia Institute of Technology; Paige Tolbert, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-10-01
• Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP1545
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environmental Health Perspectives
• ISSN: 0091-6765
• Volume: 125
• Issue: 10
• Start Page: 107008
• End Page: 107008
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by a Clean Air Research Center grant to Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; R834799) and by a training grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (5T03OH8609-9).
• Keywords: EXPOSURE MEASUREMENT ERROR; RAPTES PROJECT; DIESEL EXHAUST; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; AIR-POLLUTION; Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences; HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; WATER-SOLUBLE PM2.5; SHORT-TERM ASSOCIATIONS; Toxicology; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; SOUTHEASTERN AEROSOL RESEARCH; RESPIRATORY HEALTH; TIME-SERIES
• Research Categories: Biology, Biostatistics; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Oxidative potential (OP) has been proposed as a measure of toxicity of ambient particulate matter (PM). OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to address an important research gap by using daily OP measurements to conduct population-level analysis of the health effects of measured ambient OP. METHODS: A semi-automated dithiothreitol (DTT) analytical system was used to measure daily average OP (OP DTT ) in water-soluble fine PM at a central monitor site in Atlanta, Georgia, over eight sampling periods (a total of 196 d) during June 2012–April 2013. Data on emergency department (ED) visits for selected cardiorespiratory outcomes were obtained for the five-county Atlanta metropolitan area. Poisson log-linear regression models controlling for temporal confounders were used to conduct time-series analyses of the relationship between daily counts of ED visits and either the 3-d moving average (lag 0–2) of OP DTT or same-day OP DTT . Bipollutant regression models were run to estimate the health associations of OP DTT while controlling for other pollutants. RESULTS: OP DTT was measured for 196 d (mean = 0:32 nmol/min/m 3 , interquartile range = 0:21). Lag 0–2 OP DTT was associated with ED visits for respiratory disease (RR = 1:03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00, 1.05 per interquartile range increase in OP DTT ), asthma (RR = 1:12, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.22), and ischemic heart disease (RR = 1:19, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.38). Same-day OP DTT was not associated with ED visits for any outcome. Lag 0–2 OP DTT remained a significant predictor of asthma and ischemic heart disease in most bipollutant models. CONCLUSIONS: Lag 0–2 OP DTT was associated with ED visits for multiple cardiorespiratory outcomes, providing support for the utility of OP DTT as a measure of fine particle toxicity.