The association between ambient inhalable particulate matter and the disease burden of respiratory disease: An ecological study based on ten-year time series data in Tianjin, China

Abstract

There is limited evidence available worldwide about the quantitative relationship between particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10µm (PM₁₀) and years of life lost (YLL) caused by respiratory diseases (RD), especially regarding long-term time series data. We investigated the quantitative exposure-response association between PM₁₀ and the disease burden of RD. We obtained the daily concentration of ambient pollutants (PM₁₀, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide), temperature and relative humidity data, as well as the death monitoring data from 2001 to 2010 in Tianjin. Then, a time series database was built after the daily YLL of RD was calculated. We applied a generalized additive model (GAM) to estimate the burden of PM₁₀ on daily YLL of RD and to determine the effect (the increase of daily YLL) of every 10μg/m³ increase in PM₁₀ on health. We found that every 10μg/m³ increase in PM₁₀ was associated with the greatest increase in YLL of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.45, 1.23) years at a 2-day (current day and previous day, lag01) moving average PM₁₀ concentration for RD. The association between PM₁₀ and YLL was stronger in females and the elderly (≥65 years of age). The association between PM₁₀ and YLL of RD differed according to district. These findings also provide new epidemiological evidence for respiratory disease prevention.

Keywords: Disease burden; PM(10); Respiratory disease; Time series study; Years of life lost.