Relationship between haze and acute cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory diseases in Beijing

Abstract

Haze is an atmospheric phenomenon in which dry particulate pollutants obscure the sky. Haze has been associated with chronic diseases, but its relationship with acute diseases is less clear. We aimed to determine the association between haze and acute cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory diseases, in order to determine the influence of haze on human health. We compared the number of cases of acute cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory diseases in Beijing Emergency Center between 2006 and 2013, with haze data from Beijing Observatory. The relationship between the number of hazy days and the number of cases of the above types of diseases was analyzed using univariate analyses. Both the number of cases and the number of hazy days showed a rising trend. The average number of cases per day for all three diseases was higher on hazy days than on non-hazy days. There was a positive correlation between the number of hazy days and the number of cases, and this correlation showed a hysteretic quality. Haze has an influence on acute cardiovascular (CVDs), cerebrovascular (CBDs), and respiratory system (RSDs) diseases. Haze seems to have an additive effect, since the associations between haze and number of cases were stronger in the following month than in the preceding month. The increasing trend in the number of hazy days might worsen the problem of haze-related diseases.