The spatial variation in the effects of air pollution on cardiovascular mortality in Beijing, China

• Published in: Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 297 - 304
• Main Authors: Li, Wenjing, Cao, Yang, Li, Runkui, Ma, Xinming, Chen, Jieying, Wu, Zhenglai, Xu, Qun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.05.2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Air monitoring; Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Air Pollution - analysis; Air pollution effects; Air quality; Beijing - epidemiology; Carbon monoxide; Carbon Monoxide - adverse effects; Carbon Monoxide - analysis; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - chemically induced; Cardiovascular Diseases - mortality; cardiovascular mortality; Confidence intervals; Distribution; Environmental monitoring; Epidemiology; Fatalities; generalized additive mixed model; generalized additive model; Health aspects; Humans; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mortality; Nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen Dioxide - adverse effects; Nitrogen Dioxide - analysis; original-article; Outdoor air quality; Particulate emissions; Particulate matter; Particulate Matter - adverse effects; Particulate Matter - analysis; Patient outcomes; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution monitoring; Risk; Rural areas; Rural Population; Spatial Analysis; spatio-temporal analysis; Statistical analysis; Suburban areas; Urban areas; Urban Population; Beijing; China; Beijing China; cardiovascular mortality; air pollution; spatio-temporal analysis; generalized additive model; generalized additive mixed model
• ISSN: 1559-0631; 1559-064X; 1559-064X
• DOI: 10.1038/jes.2016.21

Owing to lack of data from multiple air quality monitoring stations, studies about spatial association between concentrations of ambient pollutants and mortality in China are rare. To investigate the spatial variation of association between concentrations of particulate matter less than 10  μ m in aerodynamic diameter (PM 10 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) and cardiovascular mortality in Beijing, China, we collected data including daily deaths, concentrations of PM 10 , NO 2 and CO, and meteorological factors from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010 in all 16 districts of Beijing. Generalized additive model (GAM) and generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) were used to examine the citywide and district-specific effects of PM 10 , NO 2 and CO on cardiovascular mortality. The citywide effect derived from GAMM was lower than that derived from GAM, and the strongest effects were identified for 2-day moving average lag 0–1. The interquartile increases in concentrations of PM 10 , NO 2 and CO were associated with 2.46 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.22–3.72), 4.11 (95%CI, 2.82–5.42) and 2.23 (95%CI, 1.14–3.33) percentage increases in daily cardiovascular mortality by GAMM, respectively. The relative risk of each district compared with reference district was generally statistically significant. The death risk associated with air pollutants varies across different geographic districts in Beijing. The data indicate that the risk is high in suburban areas and rural counties. We found significant and spatially varied adverse effects of air pollution on cardiovascular deaths across the rural and urban areas in Beijing.