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. 2015 Apr 13;12(4):4047-59.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph120404047.

Emergency hospital visits in association with volcanic ash, dust storms and other sources of ambient particles: a time-series study in Reykjavík, Iceland

Hanne Krage Carlsen  1   2 , Thorarinn Gislason  3   4 , Bertil Forsberg  5 , Kadri Meister  6 , Throstur Thorsteinsson  7   8 , Thorsteinn Jóhannsson  9 , Ragnhildur Finnbjornsdottir  1 , Anna Oudin  10
Affiliations

Emergency hospital visits in association with volcanic ash, dust storms and other sources of ambient particles: a time-series study in Reykjavík, Iceland

Hanne Krage Carlsen et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Volcanic ash contributed significantly to particulate matter (PM) in Iceland following the eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull 2010 and Grímsvötn 2011. This study aimed to investigate the association between different PM sources and emergency hospital visits for cardiorespiratory causes from 2007 to 2012. Indicators of PM10 sources; "volcanic ash", "dust storms", or "other sources" (traffic, fireworks, and re-suspension) on days when PM10 exceeded the daily air quality guideline value of 50 µg/m3 were entered into generalized additive models, adjusted for weather, time trend and co-pollutants. The average number of daily emergency hospital visits was 10.5. PM10 exceeded the air quality guideline value 115 out of 2191 days; 20 days due to volcanic ash, 14 due to dust storms (two days had both dust storm and ash contribution) and 83 due to other sources. High PM10 levels from volcanic ash tended to be significantly associated with the emergency hospital visits; estimates ranged from 4.8% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.6, 9.2%) per day of exposure in unadjusted models to 7.3% (95% CI: -0.4, 15.5%) in adjusted models. Dust storms were not consistently associated with daily emergency hospital visits and other sources tended to show a negative association. We found some evidence indicating that volcanic ash particles were more harmful than particles from other sources, but the results were inconclusive and should be interpreted with caution.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Daily (24-h) averages values of PM10 and its sources during exceedance of the air quality guideline value of 50 µg/m3 (dotted line).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Associations between adult emergency hospital visits and indicators for PM10 over air quality guideline value due to (A) any source, (B) volcanic ash, (C) dust storms, (D) other sources. The effect estimates are shown unadjusted (left) and adjusted for PM10, NO2 and H2S (right).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Associations between adult emergency hospital visits and indicators for PM10 over air quality guideline value due to (A) any source, (B) volcanic ash, (C) dust storms, (D) other sources. The effect estimates are shown unadjusted (left) and adjusted for PM10, NO2 and H2S (right).
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