Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jul 5;20(1):139.
doi: 10.1186/s12931-019-1117-8.

Ambient air pollution and respiratory mortality in Xi'an, China: a time-series analysis

Kingsley Katleho Mokoena  1   2 , Crystal Jane Ethan  1 , Yan Yu  3 , Karabo Shale  4 , Feng Liu  5
Affiliations

Ambient air pollution and respiratory mortality in Xi'an, China: a time-series analysis

Kingsley Katleho Mokoena et al. Respir Res. .

Abstract

Background: Although air pollution is a known fundamental problem in China, few studies have investigated the associations between ambient air pollution and respiratory mortality in non-metropolitan cities of China. The study aimed to investigate a potential relationship between short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants and respiratory mortality in Xi'an, China.

Methods: Daily averages of PM2.5, SO2, O3, temperature, relative humidity and daily counts of respiratory mortality were obtained (2014-2016). Using a single and multi-pollutant approach in time-series analysis, the generalized additive model with natural splines was used for analysis. Subgroup analysis stratified by gender and age group (≤ 64 years and ≥ 65 years) was conducted.

Results: Seven thousand nine hundred sixty-five cases of respiratory mortality were assessed, with 62.9, 28.5, and 8.6% of mortality attributed to chronic lower respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia, as well as other forms of respiratory diseases, respectively. Observed pollutants were significantly associated with respiratory mortality. In the single pollutant model, 10 μg/m3 increase in a two-day moving average of PM2.5, and SO2 concentrations were significantly associated with relative risk 1.313(1.032, 1.708) and 1.4020(0.827, 2.854) of respiratory mortality, respectively. The effects of both air pollutants remained statistically significant after adjusting for collinearity in the multi-pollutant model. Ozone was only statistically associated with respiratory mortality in females at lag 0 [RR: 0.964(0.938, 0.991)].

Conclusion: This study provided evidence that respiratory mortality in Xi'an was significantly associated with exposure to ambient air pollutants from 2014 to 2016.

Keywords: Air pollution; Environmental exposure; Principal component analysis; Public health; Respiration disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Average concentration levels for ambient air pollutants in Xi’an from 2014 to 2016
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Seasonal distribution of respiratory morality in Xi’an from 2014 to 2016
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Gender and age lag-response relationship associated with 10 μg/m3 increase of ambient air pollutants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution. https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/. Accessed 26 July 2016.
    1. Wu J, Liu L, Wang G, Lu J. One health in China. Infect Ecol Epidemiol. 2016;6(1):33843. doi: 10.3402/iee.v6.33843. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Ambient (outdoor) air quality and health. 2018a. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-q.... Accessed 9 Jan 2019.
    1. Guastadisegni C, Kelly FJ, Cassee FR, Gerlofs-Nijland ME, Janssen NAH, Brunekreef B, et al. Determinants of the pro-inflammatory action of ambient particulate matter in immortalized murine macrophages. Environ Health Perspect. 2010;118:1728–1734. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1002105. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meng X, Wang C, Cao D, Wong CM, Kan H. Short-term effect of ambient air pollution on COPD mortality in four Chinese cities. Atmos Environ. 2013;77:149–154. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.05.001. - DOI