Exposure to low levels of hydrogen sulphide and its impact on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung function in the geothermal area of Mt. Amiata in Italy: The cross-sectional InVETTA study
The geothermal power plants for electricity production currently active in Italy are all located in Mt. Amiata area in the Tuscany region. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the framework of the regional project "InVETTA-Biomonitoring Survey and Epidemiological Evaluations for the Protec...
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Published in | PloS one Vol. 18; no. 11; p. e0293619 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
San Francisco
Public Library of Science
01.11.2023
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The geothermal power plants for electricity production currently active in Italy are all located in Mt. Amiata area in the Tuscany region. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the framework of the regional project "InVETTA-Biomonitoring Survey and Epidemiological Evaluations for the Protection of Health in the Amiata Territories", using objective measures of lung function to investigate the role of hydrogen sulphide (H.sub.2 S) in affecting the respiratory health of the population living in this area. 2018 adults aged 18-70 were enrolled during 2017-2019. Home and workplace addresses of participants were geocoded. Dispersion modelling was used to evaluate the spatial variability of exposure to H.sub.2 S from the geothermal power plants' emissions. We estimated average long-term historical exposure to H.sub.2 S and more recent exposure indicators. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) was defined according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to investigate associations between outcome and exposure. Our findings did not showed any evidence of an association between increasing H.sub.2 S exposure and lung function impairments. Some risk reductions were observed: a -32.8% (p = 0.003) for FEV1<80% and a -51.7% (p = 0.001) risk decrease for FVC<80% were associated with interquartile increase (13.8 [mu]g/m.sup.3) of H.sub.2 S levels. Our study provides no evidence that chronic exposure to low levels of H.sub.2 S is associated with decrements in pulmonary function, suggesting that ambient H.sub.2 S exposure may benefit lung function. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Current address: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa (PI), Italy Current address: Unit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova (PD), Italy |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0293619 |