Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the direct health effects of Asian dust on ambulance calls and its role as an effect modifier on the effects of anthropogenic air pollution in Japan.
Methods: The subjects were 51,945 elderly residents who visited hospital emergency departments from 2006 to 2010. We evaluated the impact of Asian dust by time-series analyses and the excess risk from suspended particulate matter (SPM) stratified by Asian-dust exposure.
Results: Asian dust was associated with daily ambulance calls due to allcause, cardiovascular, and respiratory disease independently of SPM, for example, the relative risk per interquartile increase in Asian dust (3-day lag) was 1.021 (1.002 to 1.039) for cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, Asian dust modified the effects of SPM on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
Conclusions: Asian dust had adverse effects and modified the effect of SPM.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1277-1283 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of occupational and environmental medicine |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 14 2014 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
