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. 2014 Mar;29(2):183-90.
doi: 10.3904/kjim.2014.29.2.183. Epub 2014 Feb 27.

Impact of outdoor air pollution on the incidence of tuberculosis in the Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea

Seung-sik Hwang  1 , Sungchan Kang  1 , Ji-Young Lee  1 , Ji Sun Lee  2 , Hee Jin Kim  3 , Sung Koo Han  2 , Jae-Joon Yim  2
Affiliations

Impact of outdoor air pollution on the incidence of tuberculosis in the Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea

Seung-sik Hwang et al. Korean J Intern Med. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Background/aims: Although indoor air pollution is a well-known risk factor for tuberculosis (TB), the possible link between outdoor air pollution and TB development has not been examined fully. We assessed the impact of outdoor air pollution on TB development in the Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea.

Methods: The mean concentrations of ambient particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 µm (PM10), O3, CO, NO2, and SO2 levels in Seoul, between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2006, were determined. Furthermore, their association with the risk of developing TB after adjusting for socioeconomic status, between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006, was investigated.

Results: Between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006, a total of 41,185 TB cases were reported in Seoul. Concentrations of PM10, O3, CO, and NO2 were not associated with TB incidence in males or females. However, the interquartile increase in SO2 concentration was associated with a 7% increment in TB incidence (relative risk [RR], 1.07; 95% credible interval [CrI], 1.03 to 1.12) in males but not in females (RR, 1.02; 95% CrI, 0.98 to 1.07).

Conclusions: Long-term exposure to ambient SO2 increased the risk of TB in males.

Keywords: Air pollution; Sulfur dioxide; Tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimated SO2 levels using air-monitoring data and kriging between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2006, in the Seoul metropolitan area.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Unsmoothed (A) and smoothed (B) map of the standardized incidence ratios of tuberculosis in the Seoul metropolitan area between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2006 (smoothing of risk estimates were calculated based on Bayesian inference methods).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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