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Li JJH, Wang P, Sutton C, Harker R, Xue T, Chen K. Landscape Fire Air Pollution as a Mediator in Drought and Childhood Stunting Pathway in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 39259849 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c04307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/13/2024]
Abstract
Drought induces dry hazards, including wildfire, and increased air pollution from wildfire may be a mechanism by which drought increases health risks. We examined whether the drought-wildfire pathway increases the risk of childhood stunting. We analyzed all geocoded children under five across 44 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We first conducted mixed-effect regressions to examine the three pairwise associations between standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), fire-sourced PM2.5, and childhood stunting. We then employed a causal mediation analysis to determine whether compounding drought-wildfire (cascading or co-occurring) events significantly impact the drought-stunting pathway. We found that each 1-unit decrease in SPEI exposure was associated with a 2.16% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79, 3.49%] increase in stunting risk and 0.57 (95% CI 0.55, 0.59%) μg/m3 increase in fire-sourced PM2.5. Additionally, each 1 μg/m3 increase in 24 month average fire-sourced PM2.5 was associated with an increased risk of 2.46% (95% CI: 2.16, 2.76%) in stunting. Drought-mediated fires accounted for 26.7% (95% CI: 14.5, 36.6%) of the linkage between SPEI and stunting. Our study revealed fire-sourced PM2.5 is a mediator in the drought-stunting pathway in LMICs. To protect child health under increasing drought conditions, personal interventions against wildfire should be considered to enhance climate resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Jiang-Hui Li
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
- Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
| | - Pin Wang
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
- Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
| | - Caroline Sutton
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
- Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
| | - Riena Harker
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
- Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
| | - Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health/Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China
- Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou 311215, China
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure, and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Kai Chen
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
- Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, United States
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Du P, Du H, Zhang W, Lu K, Zhang C, Ban J, Wang Y, Liu T, Hu J, Li T. Unequal Health Risks and Attributable Mortality Burden of Source-Specific PM 2.5 in China. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:10897-10909. [PMID: 38843119 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c08789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Anthropogenic emissions, originating from human activities, stand as the primary contributors to PM2.5, which is recognized as a global health threat. The disease burden associated with PM2.5 has been extensively documented. However, the prevailing estimations have predominantly relied on PM2.5 exposure-response functions, neglecting the distinct risks posed by PM2.5 from various sources. China has experienced a significant reduction in the PM2.5 concentration due to stringent emission controls. With diverse sources and abundant mortality data, this situation provides a unique opportunity to estimate short-term source-specific attributable mortality. Our approach involves an integrated unequal health risk-oriented modeling in China, incorporating a source-oriented Community Multiscale Air Quality model, an adjustment and downscaling method for exposure measurement, a generalized linear model with random-effects meta-analysis, and premature mortality estimation. Adhering to the unequal health risk concept, we calculated the attributable mortality of multiple PM2.5 sources by determining the source risk-adjusted factor. In this study, we observed varying excess risks associated with multiple PM2.5 sources, with transportation-related PM2.5 exhibiting the most substantial association. An interquartile range increase (7.65 μg/m3) was linked to a 1.98% higher daily nonaccidental mortality. Residential use- and transportation-related PM2.5 emerged as the two principal sources of premature mortality. In 2018, a remarkable 53,381 avoiding deaths were estimated compared to 2013, and over 67% of these were attributed to reductions in coal-dependent sources. Notably, transportation-related PM2.5 emerged as the largest contributor to premature mortality in 2018. This study underscores the significance of a new source-oriented health risk assessment to support actions aimed at reducing air pollution. It strongly advocates for heightened attention to PM2.5 reductions in the transportation sector in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Du
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Hang Du
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Wenjing Zhang
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
| | - Kailai Lu
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Can Zhang
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Jie Ban
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Yiyi Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
| | - Ting Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
| | - Jianlin Hu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
| | - Tiantian Li
- China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China
- School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
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3
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Uttajug A, Seposo X, Phosri A, Phung VLH, Tajudin MAA, Ueda K. Effects of Coexposure to Air Pollution from Vegetation Fires and Extreme Heat on Mortality in Upper Northern Thailand. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:9945-9953. [PMID: 38806168 PMCID: PMC11171450 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c08074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Background: understanding the effects of coexposure to compound extreme events, such as air pollution and extreme heat, is important for reducing current and future health burdens. This study investigated the independent and synergistic effects of exposure to air pollution from vegetation fires and extreme heat on all-cause mortality in Upper Northern Thailand. Methods: we used a time-stratified case-crossover study design with a conditional quasi-Poisson model to examine the association between mortality and coexposure to air pollution due to vegetation fire events (fire-PM2.5) and extreme heat. Extreme heat days were defined using the 90th and 99th percentile thresholds for daily maximum temperature. Results: we observed a significant positive excess risk of mortality due to independent exposure to fire-PM2.5 and extreme heat, but not an interactive effect. All-cause mortality risk increased by 0.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1, 1.8) for each 10 μg/m3 increase in fire-PM2.5 on the same day and by 12.8% (95% CI: 10.5, 15.1) on extreme heat days (90th percentile) relative to nonextreme heat days. Conclusion: this study showed that exposure to PM2.5 from vegetation fires and extreme heat independently increased all-cause mortality risk in UNT. However, there was no evidence of a synergistic effect of these events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athicha Uttajug
- Department
of Hygiene, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido 060-8638, Japan
| | - Xerxes Seposo
- Department
of Hygiene, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido 060-8638, Japan
| | - Arthit Phosri
- Department
of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Public HealthBangkok, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
| | - Vera Ling Hui Phung
- Department
of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | | | - Kayo Ueda
- Department
of Hygiene, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido 060-8638, Japan
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Johnston FH, Williamson G, Borchers-Arriagada N, Henderson SB, Bowman DMJS. Climate Change, Landscape Fires, and Human Health: A Global Perspective. Annu Rev Public Health 2024; 45:295-314. [PMID: 38166500 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-060222-034131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2024]
Abstract
Landscape fires are an integral component of the Earth system and a feature of prehistoric, subsistence, and industrial economies. Specific spatiotemporal patterns of landscape fire occur in different locations around the world, shaped by the interactions between environmental and human drivers of fire activity. Seven distinct types of landscape fire emerge from these interactions: remote area fires, wildfire disasters, savanna fires, Indigenous burning, prescribed burning, agricultural burning, and deforestation fires. All can have substantial impacts on human health and well-being directly and indirectly through (a) exposure to heat flux (e.g., injuries and destructive impacts), (b) emissions (e.g., smoke-related health impacts), and (c) altered ecosystem functioning (e.g., biodiversity, amenity, water quality, and climate impacts). Minimizing the adverse effects of landscape fires on population health requires understanding how human and environmental influences on fire impacts can be modified through interventions targeted at individual, community, and regional levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fay H Johnston
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia;
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre for Safe Air, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Grant Williamson
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre for Safe Air, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | | | - Sarah B Henderson
- Environmental Health Services, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - David M J S Bowman
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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Zhang Y, Tingting Y, Huang W, Yu P, Chen G, Xu R, Song J, Guo Y, Li S. Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Curr Environ Health Rep 2024; 11:46-60. [PMID: 38038861 DOI: 10.1007/s40572-023-00420-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Wildfire smoke is associated with human health, becoming an increasing public health concern. However, a comprehensive synthesis of the current evidence on the health impacts of ambient wildfire smoke on children and adolescents, an exceptionally vulnerable population, is lacking. We conduct a systematic review of peer-reviewed epidemiological studies on the association between wildfire smoke and health of children and adolescents. RECENT FINDINGS We searched for studies available in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Scopus from database inception up to October 11, 2022. Of 4926 studies initially identified, 59 studies from 14 countries were ultimately eligible. Over 33.3% of the studies were conducted in the USA, and two focused on multi-countries. The exposure assessment of wildfire smoke was heterogenous, with wildfire-specific particulate matters with diameters ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5, 22.0%) and all-source (22.0%) PM2.5 during wildfire period most frequently used. Over half of studies (50.6%) focused on respiratory-related morbidities/mortalities. Wildfire smoke exposure was consistently associated with enhanced risks of adverse health outcomes in children/adolescents. Meta-analysis results presented a pooled relative risk (RR) of 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.96-1.12) for all-cause respiratory morbidity, 1.11 (95% Ci: 0.93-1.32) for asthma, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.85-1.03) for bronchitis, and 1.13 (95% CI, 1.05-1.23) for upper respiratory infection, whilst - 21.71 g for birth weight (95% CI, - 32.92 to - 10.50) per 10 µg/m3 increment in wildfire-specific PM2.5/all-source PM2.5 during wildfire event. The majority of studies found that wildfire smoke was associated with multiple adverse health outcomes among children and adolescents, with respiratory morbidities of significant concern. In-utero exposure to wildfire smoke may increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes and have long-term impacts on height. Higher maternal baseline exposure to wildfire smoke and poor family-level baseline birthweight respectively elevated risks in preterm birth and low birth weight associated with wildfire smoke. More studies in low- and middle-income countries and focusing on extremely young children are needed. Despite technological progress, wildfire smoke exposure measurements remain uncertain, demanding improved methodologies to have more precise assessment of wildfire smoke levels and thus quantify the corresponding health impacts and guide public mitigation actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiwen Zhang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Ye Tingting
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Wenzhong Huang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Pei Yu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Gongbo Chen
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Rongbin Xu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Jiangning Song
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Yuming Guo
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Shanshan Li
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 2, 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
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Casey JA, Kioumourtzoglou MA, Padula A, González DJX, Elser H, Aguilera R, Northrop AJ, Tartof SY, Mayeda ER, Braun D, Dominici F, Eisen EA, Morello-Frosch R, Benmarhnia T. Measuring long-term exposure to wildfire PM 2.5 in California: Time-varying inequities in environmental burden. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2306729121. [PMID: 38349877 PMCID: PMC10895344 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306729121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Wildfires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change and outdoor wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations differ from relatively smoothly varying total PM2.5. Thus, we introduced a conceptual model for computing long-term wildfire PM2.5 and assessed disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities. We used monitoring data and statistical techniques to characterize annual wildfire PM2.5 exposure based on intermittent and extreme daily wildfire PM2.5 concentrations in California census tracts (2006 to 2020). Metrics included: 1) weeks with wildfire PM2.5 < 5 μg/m3; 2) days with non-zero wildfire PM2.5; 3) mean wildfire PM2.5 during peak exposure week; 4) smoke waves (≥2 consecutive days with <15 μg/m3 wildfire PM2.5); and 5) mean annual wildfire PM2.5 concentration. We classified tracts by their racial/ethnic composition and CalEnviroScreen (CES) score, an environmental and social vulnerability composite measure. We examined associations of CES and racial/ethnic composition with the wildfire PM2.5 metrics using mixed-effects models. Averaged 2006 to 2020, we detected little difference in exposure by CES score or racial/ethnic composition, except for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native populations, where a 1-SD increase was associated with higher exposure for 4/5 metrics. CES or racial/ethnic × year interaction term models revealed exposure disparities in some years. Compared to their California-wide representation, the exposed populations of non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (1.68×, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.81), white (1.13×, 95% CI: 0.99 to 1.32), and multiracial (1.06×, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.23) people were over-represented from 2006 to 2020. In conclusion, during our study period in California, we detected disproportionate long-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure for several racial/ethnic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan A. Casey
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY10032
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA98195
| | | | - Amy Padula
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94143
| | - David J. X. González
- Department of Environmental Policy, Science, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA94704
| | - Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Rosana Aguilera
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA92037
| | | | - Sara Y. Tartof
- Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA91101
| | - Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Danielle Braun
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA02115
- Department of Data Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA02215
| | - Francesca Dominici
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA02115
| | - Ellen A. Eisen
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA94704
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environmental Policy, Science, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA94704
| | - Tarik Benmarhnia
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA92037
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Curto A, Nunes J, Milà C, Nhacolo A, Hänninen R, Sofiev M, Valentín A, Saúte F, Kogevinas M, Sacoor C, Bassat Q, Tonne C. Associations between landscape fires and child morbidity in southern Mozambique: a time-series study. Lancet Planet Health 2024; 8:e41-e50. [PMID: 38199722 DOI: 10.1016/s2542-5196(23)00251-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epidemiological evidence linking exposure to landscape fires to child health remains scarce. We assessed the association between daily landscape fire smoke and child hospital visits and admissions in the Manhiça district, Mozambique, an area characterised by frequent forest and cropland fires. METHODS In this time-series analysis (2012-20), our primary metric for exposure to landscape fires was fire-originated PM2·5 from smoke dispersion hindcasts. We also assessed total and upwind fire exposure using daily satellite-derived fire density data. Daily numbers of hospital visits and admissions were extracted from an ongoing paediatric morbidity surveillance system (children aged ≤15 years). We applied quasi-Poisson regression models controlling for season, long-term trend, day of the week, temperature, and rainfall, and offsetting by annual population-time at risk to examine lag-specific association of fires on morbidity. FINDINGS A 10 μg/m3 increase in fire-originated PM2·5 was associated with a 6·12% (95% CI 0·37-12·21) increase in all-cause and a 12·43% (5·07-20·31) increase in respiratory-linked hospital visits on the following day. Positive associations were also observed for lag 0 and the cumulative lag of 0-1 days. Null associations were observed for hospital admissions. Landscape fires mostly occurred in forested areas; however, associations with child morbidity were stronger for cropland than for forest fires. INTERPRETATION Landscape fire smoke was associated with all-cause and respiratory-linked morbidity in children. Improved exposure assessment is needed to better quantify the contribution of landscape fire smoke to child health in regions with scarce air pollution monitoring. FUNDING H2020 project EXHAUSTION, Academy of Finland, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Generalitat de Catalunya, and Government of Mozambique and Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariadna Curto
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; Department de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jovito Nunes
- Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Carles Milà
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; Department de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Arsenio Nhacolo
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | | | | | - Antònia Valentín
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; Department de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco Saúte
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Manolis Kogevinas
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; Department de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain; Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Quique Bassat
- Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cathryn Tonne
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; Department de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique.
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8
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Martins RS, Poulikidis K, Razi SS, Latif MJ, Tafuri K, Bhora FY. From emissions to incisions and beyond: the repercussions of climate change on surgical disease in low- and-middle-income countries. BMC Surg 2023; 23:348. [PMID: 37974149 PMCID: PMC10655255 DOI: 10.1186/s12893-023-02260-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change has far-reaching repercussions for surgical healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. Natural disasters cause injuries and infrastructural damage, while air pollution and global warming may increase surgical disease and predispose to worse outcomes. Socioeconomic ramifications further strain healthcare systems, highlighting the need for integrated climate and healthcare policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell Seth Martins
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Network - Central Region, Edison, NJ, 08820, United States of America.
| | - Kostantinos Poulikidis
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Network - Central Region, Edison, NJ, 08820, United States of America
| | - Syed Shahzad Razi
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Network - Central Region, Edison, NJ, 08820, United States of America
| | - M Jawad Latif
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Network - Central Region, Edison, NJ, 08820, United States of America
| | - Kyle Tafuri
- Hackensack Meridian Health Network, Nutley, NJ, 08820, United States of America
| | - Faiz Y Bhora
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Network - Central Region, Edison, NJ, 08820, United States of America.
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9
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Li P, Wu J, Ni X, Tong M, Lu H, Liu H, Xue T, Zhu T. Associations between hemoglobin levels and source-specific exposure to ambient fine particles among children aged <5 years in low- and middle-income countries. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023; 459:132061. [PMID: 37467606 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We investigated associations between source-specific fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and hemoglobin levels among children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHOD 36,675 children aged < 5 years were collected in 11 LMICs during 2017. We associated child hemoglobin with 20 source-specific PM2.5, and calculated changes in hemoglobin that could be attributed to different PM2.5-mixture scenarios, established using real-world data from 88 Asian and African LMICs (AA-LMICs). RESULTS Multiple-source analysis revealed PM2.5 produced by solvents (change in hemoglobin for 1-μg/m3 increment in PM2.5: -10.34 g/L, 95% CI -14.88 to -5.91), industrial coal combustion (-0.51 g/L, 95% CI -9.25 to -0.08), road transportation (-0.50 g/L, 95% CI -6.96 to -0.29), or waste handling and disposal (-0.34 g/L, 95% CI -4.38 to -0.23) was significantly associated with a decrease in hemoglobin level. Decreases in hemoglobin attributable to the PM2.5 mixtures were co-determined by the concentrations and their source profiles. The largest PM2.5-related change in hemoglobin was -10.25 g/L (95% CI -15.54 to -5.27) for a mean exposure of 61.01 μg/m3 in India. CONCLUSION Association between PM2.5 and a decrease in hemoglobin was affected by variations in PM2.5 source profiles. Source-oriented interventions are warranted to protect children in LMICs from air pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou 311215, China; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Jingyi Wu
- Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou 311215, China
| | - Xueqiu Ni
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Mingkun Tong
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Hong Lu
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Hengyi Liu
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou 311215, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Tong Zhu
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100084, China
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10
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Xue T, Li J, Tong M, Fan X, Li P, Wang R, Li Y, Zheng Y, Li J, Guan T, Zhu T. Stillbirths attributable to open fires and their geographic disparities in non-Western countries. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 334:122170. [PMID: 37451590 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Due to global warming, an increased number of open fires is becoming a major contributor to PM2.5 pollution and thus a threat to public health. However, the burden of stillbirths attributable to fire-sourced PM2.5 is unknown. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a co-occurrence of high baseline stillbirth rates and frequent firestorms, which may lead to a geographic disparity. Across 54 LMICs, we conducted a self-matched case-control study, making stillbirths comparable to the corresponding livebirths in terms of time-invariant characteristics (e.g., genetics) and duration of gestational exposure. We established a joint-exposure-response function (JERF) by simultaneously associating stillbirth with fire- and non-fire-sourced PM2.5 concentrations, which were estimated by fusing multi-source data, such as chemical transport model simulations and satellite observations. During 2000-2014, 35,590 pregnancies were selected from multiple Demographic and Health Surveys. In each mother, a case of stillbirth was compared to her livebirth(s) based on gestational exposure to fire-sourced PM2.5. We further applied the JERF to assess stillbirths attributable to fire-sourced PM2.5 in 136 non-Western countries. The disparity was evaluated using the Gini index. The risk of stillbirth increased by 17.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6-35.7%) per 10 μg/m3 increase in fire-sourced PM2.5. In 2014, referring to a minimum-risk exposure level of 10 μg/m3, total and fire-sourced PM2.5 contributed to 922,860 (95% CI: 578,451-1,183,720) and 49,951 (95% CI: 3,634-92,629) stillbirths, of which 10% were clustered within the 6.4% and 0.6% highest-exposure pregnancies, respectively. The Gini index of stillbirths attributable to fire-sourced PM2.5 was 0.65, much higher than for total PM2.5 (0.28). Protecting pregnant women against PM2.5 exposure during wildfires is critical to avoid stillbirths, as the burden of fire-associated stillbirths leads to a geographic disparity in maternal health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Jiajianghui Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China.
| | - Mingkun Tong
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China.
| | - Xinguang Fan
- Department of Sociology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Ruohan Wang
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China.
| | - Yanshun Li
- Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Yixuan Zheng
- Center of Air Quality Simulation and System Analysis, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, Beijing, China.
| | - Jiwei Li
- School of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Tianjia Guan
- Department of Health Policy, School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Tong Zhu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100084, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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11
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Xu C, You C. Agricultural expansion dominates rapid increases in cropland fires in Asia. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 179:108189. [PMID: 37688809 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Asia contains 58 % of the global population and approximately 39 % of the world's cropland, making evaluation of the spatiotemporal variability patterns in cropland fire critical for understanding the interplay between crop residue burning and human activity in Asia. Although agricultural expansion and intensification have contributed to an overall decline in vegetation fires worldwide since the late 1990s, burned area by cropland fires in Asia has expanded by more than 19 % over the past two decades. India accounts for about 32 % of cropland fires in Asia, and the burned area has increased by more than two-thirds since 2003, particularly increased around 80 % during the two major cereal harvest seasons of March-May and October-November. In comparison, cropland fires have increased by <6 % in China since 2003, and there has been a marked downward trend in burned area in June due to the intensive implementation of the nationwide bans on open-land crop straw burning. The expansion of agricultural harvests is primarily responsible for the rapid increase in cropland fires in Asia, notably in India, where agricultural intensification is occurring with population growth and economic development in recent years, and crop straw burning should be strictly controlled in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Xu
- CMA Earth System Modeling and Prediction Centre (CEMC), China Meteorological Administration, 100081 Beijing, China; Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Chao You
- College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, 400044 Chongqing, China.
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12
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Xu R, Ye T, Yue X, Yang Z, Yu W, Zhang Y, Bell ML, Morawska L, Yu P, Zhang Y, Wu Y, Liu Y, Johnston F, Lei Y, Abramson MJ, Guo Y, Li S. Global population exposure to landscape fire air pollution from 2000 to 2019. Nature 2023; 621:521-529. [PMID: 37730866 PMCID: PMC10511322 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06398-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Wildfires are thought to be increasing in severity and frequency as a result of climate change1-5. Air pollution from landscape fires can negatively affect human health4-6, but human exposure to landscape fire-sourced (LFS) air pollution has not been well characterized at the global scale7-23. Here, we estimate global daily LFS outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and surface ozone concentrations at 0.25° × 0.25° resolution during the period 2000-2019 with the help of machine learning and chemical transport models. We found that overall population-weighted average LFS PM2.5 and ozone concentrations were 2.5 µg m-3 (6.1% of all-source PM2.5) and 3.2 µg m-3 (3.6% of all-source ozone), respectively, in 2010-2019, with a slight increase for PM2.5, but not for ozone, compared with 2000-2009. Central Africa, Southeast Asia, South America and Siberia experienced the highest LFS PM2.5 and ozone concentrations. The concentrations of LFS PM2.5 and ozone were about four times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries. During the period 2010-2019, 2.18 billion people were exposed to at least 1 day of substantial LFS air pollution per year, with each person in the world having, on average, 9.9 days of exposure per year. These two metrics increased by 6.8% and 2.1%, respectively, compared with 2000-2009. Overall, we find that the global population is increasingly exposed to LFS air pollution, with socioeconomic disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongbin Xu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tingting Ye
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Xu Yue
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China.
| | - Zhengyu Yang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Wenhua Yu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yiwen Zhang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Michelle L Bell
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lidia Morawska
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Pei Yu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yuxi Zhang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yao Wu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yanming Liu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Fay Johnston
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Yadong Lei
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather and Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Michael J Abramson
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yuming Guo
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Shanshan Li
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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13
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Xue T, Wang R, Tong M, Kelly FJ, Liu H, Li J, Li P, Qiu X, Gong J, Shang J, Zhu T. Estimating the exposure-response function between long-term ozone exposure and under-5 mortality in 55 low-income and middle-income countries: a retrospective, multicentre, epidemiological study. Lancet Planet Health 2023; 7:e736-e746. [PMID: 37673544 DOI: 10.1016/s2542-5196(23)00165-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 2021, WHO suggested new target concentration limits for long-term exposure to ambient ozone. However, the harmful effects of ozone on vulnerable children have not been sufficiently studied. We aimed to evaluate the association between long-term ozone exposure and mortality in children younger than 5 years (hereafter denoted under-5 mortality) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to estimate this mortality burden for 97 LMICs. METHODS By combining information from 128 Demographic and Health Surveys, we evaluated the association between the survival status of more than 1·2 million children younger than 5 years from 2457 sampling strata in 55 LMICs and the average peak-season ozone concentration during the life course, using a fixed-effects Cox model. A non-linear exposure-response function was developed by integrating the marginal effects of within-strata variation in exposure. We extrapolated the function obtained from the 55 LMICs to estimate the under-5 mortality burden attributable to ozone exposure in 97 LMICs, in which more than 95% of global deaths in this age group occur. FINDINGS The fixed-effects model showed a robust association between ozone and under-5 mortality. According to the fully adjusted linear model, an increment of 10 ppb in the life-course average peak-season ozone concentration was associated with a 6·4% (95% CI 2·4-10·7) increase in the risk of under-5 mortality. The non-linear exposure-response function showed a sublinear curvature with a threshold, suggesting that the effect of ozone exposure was non-significant at concentrations lower than the first-stage interim target (100 μg/m3) recommended by WHO. Using this function, we estimate that, in 2010, long-term ozone exposure contributed to 153 361 (95% CI 17 077-276 768; 2·3% [0·3-4·1]) deaths of children younger than 5 years in 97 LMICs, which is equivalent to 56·8% of all ozone-related deaths in adults (269 785) in these countries. From 2003 to 2017, the ozone-related under-5 mortality burden decreased in most of the 97 LMICs. INTERPRETATION Long-term exposure to ozone concentrations higher than the WHO first-stage interim target is a risk factor for under-5 mortality, and ozone exposure contributes substantially to mortality in this age group in LMICs. Increased efforts should be made to control ambient ozone pollution as this will lead to positive health benefits. FUNDING Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and China National Natural Science Foundation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Ruohan Wang
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Mingkun Tong
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Frank J Kelly
- Environmental Research Group, MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Hengyi Liu
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Jiajianghui Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinghua Qiu
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management, Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jicheng Gong
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management, Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Shang
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management, Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Tong Zhu
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management, Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China; College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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14
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Gao Y, Huang W, Xu R, Gasevic D, Liu Y, Yu W, Yu P, Yue X, Zhou G, Zhang Y, Liu H, Song J, Guo Y, Li S. Association between long-term exposure to wildfire-related PM 2.5 and mortality: A longitudinal analysis of the UK Biobank. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023; 457:131779. [PMID: 37307727 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about the associations between long-term exposure to wildfire-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and mortality. We aimed to explore theses associations using the data from the UK Biobank cohort. Long-term wildfire-related PM2.5 exposure was defined as the 3-year cumulative concentrations of wildfire-related PM2.5 within a 10-km buffer surrounding the residential address for each individual. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the time-varying Cox regression model. We included 492,394 participants aged between 38 and 73 years. We found that after adjusting for potential covariates, a 10 μg/m3 increase of wildfire-related PM2.5 exposure was associated with a 0.4% higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.004 [95% CI: 1.001, 1.006]) and nonaccidental mortality (HR = 1.004 [95% CI: 1.002, 1.006]), and a 0.5% higher risk of neoplasm mortality (HR = 1.005 [95% CI: 1.002, 1.008]). However, no significant associations were observed between wildfire-related PM2.5 exposure and mortality from cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental diseases. Additionally, no significant modification effects of a series of modifiers were observed. Targeted health protection strategies should be adopted in response to wildfire-related PM2.5 exposure, in order to reduce the risk of premature mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Gao
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Wenzhong Huang
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Rongbin Xu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Danijela Gasevic
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia; Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Yanming Liu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Wenhua Yu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Pei Yu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Xu Yue
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
| | - Guowei Zhou
- Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China
| | - Hong Liu
- Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China
| | - Jiangning Song
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Yuming Guo
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Shanshan Li
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
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15
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Pullabhotla HK, Zahid M, Heft-Neal S, Rathi V, Burke M. Global biomass fires and infant mortality. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2218210120. [PMID: 37253010 PMCID: PMC10266003 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2218210120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Global outdoor biomass burning is a major contributor to air pollution, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Recent years have witnessed substantial changes in the extent of biomass burning, including large declines in Africa. However, direct evidence of the contribution of biomass burning to global health outcomes remains limited. Here, we use georeferenced data on more than 2 million births matched to satellite-derived burned area exposure to estimate the burden of biomass fires on infant mortality. We find that each additional square kilometer of burning is associated with nearly 2% higher infant mortality in nearby downwind locations. The share of infant deaths attributable to biomass fires has increased over time due to the rapid decline in other important causes of infant death. Applying our model estimates across harmonized district-level data covering 98% of global infant deaths, we find that exposure to outdoor biomass burning was associated with nearly 130,000 additional infant deaths per year globally over our 2004 to 2018 study period. Despite the observed decline in biomass burning in Africa, nearly 75% of global infant deaths due to burning still occur in Africa. While fully eliminating biomass burning is unlikely, we estimate that even achievable reductions-equivalent to the lowest observed annual burning in each location during our study period-could have avoided more than 70,000 infant deaths per year globally since 2004.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemant K. Pullabhotla
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Department of Economics, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC3125, Australia
| | - Mustafa Zahid
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Sam Heft-Neal
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Vaibhav Rathi
- Department of Economics, Stockholm University, Stockholm106 91, Sweden
| | - Marshall Burke
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA02138
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16
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Gao Y, Huang W, Yu P, Xu R, Yang Z, Gasevic D, Ye T, Guo Y, Li S. Long-term impacts of non-occupational wildfire exposure on human health: A systematic review. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 320:121041. [PMID: 36639044 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The intensity and frequency of wildfires is increasing globally. The systematic review of the current evidence on long-term impacts of non-occupational wildfire exposure on human health has not been performed yet. To provide a systematic review and identify potential knowledge gaps in the current evidence of long-term impacts of non-occupational exposure to wildfire smoke and/or wildfire impacts on human health. We conducted a systematic search of the literature via MEDLINE, Embase and Scopus from the database inception to July 05, 2022. References from the included studies and relevant reviews were also considered. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and a validated quality assessment framework were used to evaluate the quality of observational studies. Study results were synthesized descriptively. A total of 36 studies were included in our systematic review. Most studies were from developed countries (11 in Australia, 9 in Canada, 7 in the United States). Studies predominantly focused on mental health (21 studies, 58.33%), while evidence on long-term impacts of wildfire exposure on health outcomes other than mental health is limited. Current evidence indicated that long-term impacts of non-occupational wildfire exposure were associated with mortality (COVID-19 mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality and acute myocardial disease mortality), morbidity (mainly respiratory diseases), mental health disorders (mainly posttraumatic stress disorder), shorter height of children, reduced lung function and poorer general health status. However, no significant associations were observed for long-term impacts of wildfire exposure on child mortality and respiratory hospitalizations. The population-based high-quality evidence with quantitative analysis on this topic is still limited. Future well-designed studies considering extensive wildfire smoke air pollutants (e.g., particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen oxides) and estimating risk coefficient values for extensive health outcomes (e.g., mortality, morbidity) are warranted to fill current knowledge gaps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Gao
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Wenzhong Huang
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Pei Yu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Rongbin Xu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Zhengyu Yang
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Danijela Gasevic
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia; Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Tingting Ye
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Yuming Guo
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Shanshan Li
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
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17
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Li P, Wu J, Wang R, Liu H, Zhu T, Xue T. Source sectors underlying PM 2.5-related deaths among children under 5 years of age in 17 low- and middle-income countries. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 172:107756. [PMID: 36669285 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from different source sectors might differ in toxicity. However, data from large-scale studies on vulnerable children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are insufficient. OBJECTIVE To analyze the association of under-five death (U5D) with long-term exposure to PM2.5 from different sources. METHOD We evaluated demographic and health survey data for 79,995 babies born in 2017 in 16 Asian and African LMICs (AA-LMICs) and a Latin America low-income country (i.e., Haiti). Long-term exposure to PM2.5 was assessed by a well-established product that attributed the annual concentration to 20 source sectors in 2017. The associations of survival during < 5-year periods with each source-specific concentration of PM2.5 were analyzed by Cox regression with multiple adjustments. We derived a multiple-pollutant ridge regression model to estimate the joint exposure-response function (JERF) between U5D and PM2.5 mixtures. To evaluate how sources affected PM2.5 toxicity, we evaluated the number of U5Ds attributable to PM2.5 based on the source profiles for 88 AA-LMICs. RESULTS According to the single-pollutant model, the risk of U5D increased by 7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5%, 9%) for each 10 μg/m3 increment in total PM2.5 concentration. The model performance was lower than that of the multiple-pollutant ridge regression model. For each 10 μg/m3 increment in PM2.5, the excess risk of U5D ranged from 6% (95% CI: 4%, 9%) in Nepal to 10% (95% CI: 6%, 14%) in Mauritania. Based on the JERF, PM2.5 contributed to 817,647 (95% CI: 585,729, 1,050,439), i.e., 28.0% (95% CI: 20.1%, 35.8%), of all U5Ds across the 88 AA-LMICs. The PM2.5-related U5Ds were mostly attributable to PM2.5 produced by desert dust, followed by solid biofuel combustion and open fires. CONCLUSION The average toxicity of PM2.5 varied by source profile, which should be taken into consideration when planning public health interventions. For some AA LMICs, natural sources of PM2.5 had the most significant health effects, and should not be ignored to ensure the protection of child health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou 311215, China; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Jingyi Wu
- Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou 311215, China.
| | - Ruohan Wang
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Hengyi Liu
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Tong Zhu
- College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100086, China; Center for Environment and Health, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China; Center for Environment and Health, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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18
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Li J, Cai YS, Kelly FJ, Wooster MJ, Han Y, Zheng Y, Guan T, Li P, Zhu T, Xue T. Landscape fire smoke enhances the association between fine particulate matter exposure and acute respiratory infection among children under 5 years of age: Findings of a case-crossover study for 48 low- and middle-income countries. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 171:107665. [PMID: 36493611 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) produced by landscape fires is thought to be more toxic than that from non-fire sources. However, the effects of "fire-sourced" PM2.5 on acute respiratory infection (ARI) are unknown. METHODS We combined Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 48 countries with gridded global estimates of PM2.5 concentrations from 2003 to 2014. The proportions of fire-sourced PM2.5 were assessed by a chemical transport model using a variety of PM2.5 source data. We tested for associations between ARI and short-term exposure to fire- and "non-fire-sourced" PM2.5 using a bidirectional case-crossover analysis. The robustness and homogeneity of the associations were examined by sensitivity analyses. We also established a nonlinear exposure-response relationship between fire- and non-fire-sourced PM2.5 and ARI using a two-dimensional spline function. RESULTS The study included 36,432 children under 5 years who reported ARI symptoms. Each 1 µg/m3 increment of fire-sourced PM2.5 was associated with a 3.2 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.2, 6.2) increment in the risk of ARI. This effect was comparable to that of each ∼5 µg/m3 increment in PM2.5 from non-fire sources (3.1 %; 95 % CI 2.4, 3.7). The association between ARI and total PM2.5 concentration was significantly mediated by the proportion of fire-sourced particles. Nonlinear analysis showed that the risk of ARI was increased by both fire- and non-fire-sourced PM2.5, but especially by the former. CONCLUSIONS PM2.5 produced by landscape fire was more strongly associated to ARI among children under 5 years than that from non-fire sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajianghui Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Yutong Samuel Cai
- Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; National Institute for Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Exposures and Health, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
| | - Frank J Kelly
- Environmental Research Group, MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
| | - Martin J Wooster
- Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment & Society and NERC National Centre for Earth Observation, Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK.
| | - Yiqun Han
- Environmental Research Group, MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
| | - Yixuan Zheng
- Department of Health Policy, School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
| | - Tianjia Guan
- Center of Air Quality Simulation and System Analysis, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, China.
| | - Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Tong Zhu
- College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University Beijing, China.
| | - Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
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19
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Xu R, Li S, Wu Y, Yue X, Wong EM, Southey MC, Hopper JL, Abramson MJ, Li S, Guo Y. Wildfire-related PM 2.5 and DNA methylation: An Australian twin and family study. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 171:107704. [PMID: 36542997 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Wildfire-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has many adverse health impacts, but its impacts on human epigenome are unknown. We aimed to evaluate the associations between long-term exposure to wildfire-related PM2.5 and blood DNA methylation, and whether the associations differ from those with non-wildfire-related PM2.5. METHODS We studied 479 Australian women comprising 132 twin pairs and 215 of their sisters. Blood-derived DNA methylation was measured using the HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array. Data on 3-year (year of blood collection and previous two years) average wildfire-related and non-wildfire-related PM2.5 at 0.01°×0.01° spatial resolution were created by combining information from satellite observations, chemical transport models, and ground-based observations. Exposure data were linked to each participant's home address, assuming the address did not change during the exposure window. For DNA methylation of each cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG), and for global DNA methylation represented by the average of all measured CpGs or CpGs in repetitive elements, we evaluated their associations with wildfire- or non-wildfire-related PM2.5 using a within-sibship analysis controlling for factors shared between siblings and other important covariates. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were defined by comb-p and DMRcate. RESULTS The 3-year average wildfire-related PM2.5 (range: 0.3 to 7.6 µg/m3, mean: 1.6 µg/m3) was negatively, but not significantly (p-values greater than 0.05) associated with all seven global DNA methylation measures. There were 26 CpGs and 33 DMRs associated with wildfire-related PM2.5 (Bonferroni adjusted p-value < 0.05) mapped to 47 genes enriched for pathways related to inflammatory regulation and platelet activation. These genes have been related to many human diseases or phenotypes e.g., cancer, mental disorders, diabetes, obesity, asthma, blood pressure. These CpGs, DMRs and enriched pathways did not overlap with the 1 CpG and 7 DMRs associated with non-wildfire-related PM2.5. CONCLUSIONS Long-term exposure to wildfire-related PM2.5 was associated with various blood DNA methylation signatures in Australian women, and these were distinct from those associated with non-wildfire-related PM2.5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongbin Xu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Shanshan Li
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Yao Wu
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Xu Yue
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
| | - Ee Ming Wong
- Precision Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Department of Clinical Pathology, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Melissa C Southey
- Precision Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Department of Clinical Pathology, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; Cancer Epidemiology Division, Cancer Council Victoria, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - John L Hopper
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Michael J Abramson
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Shuai Li
- Precision Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Yuming Guo
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
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20
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Phung VLH, Uttajug A, Ueda K, Yulianti N, Latif MT, Naito D. A scoping review on the health effects of smoke haze from vegetation and peatland fires in Southeast Asia: Issues with study approaches and interpretation. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274433. [PMID: 36107927 PMCID: PMC9477317 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Smoke haze due to vegetation and peatland fires in Southeast Asia is a serious public health concern. Several approaches have been applied in previous studies; however, the concepts and interpretations of these approaches are poorly understood. In this scoping review, we addressed issues related to the application of epidemiology (EPI), health burden estimation (HBE), and health risk assessment (HRA) approaches, and discussed the interpretation of findings, and current research gaps. Most studies reported an air quality index exceeding the ‘unhealthy’ level, especially during smoke haze periods. Although smoke haze is a regional issue in Southeast Asia, studies on its related health effects have only been reported from several countries in the region. Each approach revealed increased health effects in a distinct manner: EPI studies reported excess mortality and morbidity during smoke haze compared to non-smoke haze periods; HBE studies estimated approximately 100,000 deaths attributable to smoke haze in the entire Southeast Asia considering all-cause mortality and all age groups, which ranged from 1,064–260,000 for specified mortality cause, age group, study area, and study period; HRA studies quantified potential lifetime cancer and non-cancer risks due to exposure to smoke-related chemicals. Currently, there is a lack of interconnection between these three approaches. The EPI approach requires extensive effort to investigate lifetime health effects, whereas the HRA approach needs to clarify the assumptions in exposure assessments to estimate lifetime health risks. The HBE approach allows the presentation of health impact in different scenarios, however, the risk functions used are derived from EPI studies from other regions. Two recent studies applied a combination of the EPI and HBE approaches to address uncertainty issues due to the selection of risk functions. In conclusion, all approaches revealed potential health risks due to smoke haze. Nonetheless, future studies should consider comparable exposure assessments to allow the integration of the three approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Ling Hui Phung
- Center for Climate Change Adaptation, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Attica Uttajug
- Department of Hygiene, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Kayo Ueda
- Department of Hygiene, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
- Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Nina Yulianti
- Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Palangka Raya, Palangka Raya, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia
- Graduate Program of Environmental Science, Universitas Palangka Raya, Palangka Raya, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia
| | - Mohd Talib Latif
- Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Daisuke Naito
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Jawa Barat, Indonesia
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21
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Li J, Xue T, Tong M, Guan T, Liu H, Li P, Li J, Zhu T. Gestational exposure to landscape fire increases under-5 child death via reducing birthweight: A risk assessment based on mediation analysis in low- and middle-income countries. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2022; 240:113673. [PMID: 35636233 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure to landscape fire smoke (LFS) is linked to child mortality and birthweight. It is unknown whether gestational exposure to LFS affects child survival rate. We aimed to link under-five death (U5D) to gestational LFS exposure by performing a causal mediation analysis based on birthweight. METHOD We conducted a sibling-matched case-control study of children under 5 years of age who were affiliated with the same mothers from Demographic and Health Surveys in 54 low- and middle-income countries, during the period from 2000 to 2014. LFS exposure was quantified as the surface concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) attributable to landscape fires, estimated using a global atmospheric model. Three pairwise associations between fire-sourced PM2.5, birthweight, and U5D were assessed using fixed-effects regressions. We used a bootstrap-based mediation test of regression coefficients to examine whether the LFS-birthweight-U5D pathway was statistically significant. We also conducted three pairwise exposure-response functions using nonlinear models and used them to estimate the pathway-specific disease burden from 2000 to 2014. RESULTS After adjustments for multiple confounders, each 1-µg/m3 increase in gestational exposure to fire-sourced PM2.5 was associated with a reduction of 2.179 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.777, -0.580) g in birthweight. Each 1-g birthweight reduction was associated with a 0.072% (95% CI: 0.065%, 0.078%) increase in U5D. Furthermore, each increase in exposure to fire-sourced PM2.5 was associated with a 2.853% (95% CI: 0.835%, 4.911%) increase in U5D; 7.294% (95% CI: 0.710%, 24.254%) of the linkage was explained by LFS-attributable birthweight reduction. Based on the estimated exposure-response functions, from 2000 to 2014, global exposure to fire-sourced PM2.5 contributed a mean birthweight reduction of 10.30 (95% CI: 2.93, 19.47) g, contributing to 60,350 (18,111, 106,619) premature U5Ds annually. CONCLUSION In low- and middle-income countries, gestational exposure to LFS can increase mortality during infancy; appropriate interventions are needed to promote health in childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajianghui Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Mingkun Tong
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Tianjia Guan
- Department of Health Policy, School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
| | - Hengyi Liu
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing 100191, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, China.
| | - Jiwei Li
- School of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Tong Zhu
- BIC-ESAT and SKL-ESPC, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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22
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Schuller A, Walker ES, Goodrich JM, Lundgren M, Montrose L. Indoor Air Quality Considerations for Laboratory Animals in Wildfire-Impacted Regions-A Pilot Study. TOXICS 2022; 10:toxics10070387. [PMID: 35878291 PMCID: PMC9315628 DOI: 10.3390/toxics10070387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Wildfire events are increasing across the globe. The smoke generated as a result of this changing fire landscape is potentially more toxic than air pollution from other ambient sources, according to recent studies. This is especially concerning for populations of humans or animals that live downwind of areas that burn frequently, given that ambient exposure to wildfire smoke cannot be easily eliminated. We hypothesized that a significant indoor air pollution risk existed for laboratory animal facilities located proximal to fire-prone areas. Here, we measured real time continuous outdoor and indoor air quality for 28 days at a laboratory animal facility located in the Rocky Mountain region. We demonstrated that during a wildfire event, the indoor air quality of this animal facility is influenced by ambient smoke events. The daily average indoor fine particulate matter value in an animal room exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's ambient annual standard 14% of the time and exceeded the World Health Organization's ambient annual guideline 71% of the time. We further show that specialized cage filtration systems are capable of mitigating air pollution penetrance and could improve an animal's microenvironment. The potential effects for laboratory animal physiology that occur in response to the exposure levels and durations measured in this study remain to be determined; yet, even acute wildfire exposure events have been previously correlated with significant differences in gene regulatory and metabolic processes in vivo. We believe these findings warrant consideration for indoor laboratory animal facility air quality monitoring and development of smoke exposure prevention and response protocols, especially among facilities located downwind of fire-prone landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Schuller
- Biomolecular Sciences Graduate Program, Boise State University, 1910 W University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA;
| | - Ethan S. Walker
- Center for Population Health Research, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812, USA;
| | - Jaclyn M. Goodrich
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - Matthew Lundgren
- Office of Research Compliance, Boise State University, 1910 W University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA;
| | - Luke Montrose
- Department of Public Health and Population Science, Boise State University, 1910 W University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-(208)-426-3979
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23
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Holm SM, Balmes J. No fire without smoke (particles). eLife 2021; 10:74331. [PMID: 34787080 PMCID: PMC8598159 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Pollution from landscape fires, which are increasing with climate change, leads to babies being born with lower birthweights in low- and middle-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie M Holm
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
| | - John Balmes
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
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24
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Li J, Guan T, Guo Q, Geng G, Wang H, Guo F, Li J, Xue T. Exposure to landscape fire smoke reduced birthweight in low- and middle-income countries: findings from a siblings-matched case-control study. eLife 2021; 10:69298. [PMID: 34586064 PMCID: PMC8563002 DOI: 10.7554/elife.69298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Landscape fire smoke (LFS) has been associated with reduced birthweight, but evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is rare. Methods: Here, we present a sibling-matched case–control study of 227,948 newborns to identify an association between fire-sourced fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and birthweight in 54 LMICs from 2000 to 2014. We selected mothers from the geocoded Demographic and Health Survey with at least two children and valid birthweight records. Newborns affiliated with the same mother were defined as a family group. Gestational exposure to LFS was assessed in each newborn using the concentration of fire-sourced PM2.5. We determined the associations of the within-group variations in LFS exposure with birthweight differences between matched siblings using a fixed-effects regression model. Additionally, we analyzed the binary outcomes of low birthweight (LBW) or very low birthweight (VLBW). Results: According to fully adjusted models, a 1 µg/m3 increase in the concentration of fire-sourced PM2.5 was significantly associated with a 2.17 g (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56–3.77) reduction in birthweight, a 2.80% (95% CI 0.97–4.66) increase in LBW risk, and an 11.68% (95% CI 3.59–20.40) increase in VLBW risk. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that gestational exposure to LFS harms fetal health. Funding: PKU-Baidu Fund, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Peking University Health Science Centre, and CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajianghui Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Tianjia Guan
- Department of Health Policy, School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Guo
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Guannan Geng
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Huiyu Wang
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Fuyu Guo
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
| | - Jiwei Li
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health / Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
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