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This study sought to clarify the correlation of individual exposure measurements and PM2.5 measurements collected at regulatory monitoring sites in short-term panel study settings. To achieve this goal, 30 young, healthy adult participants were assigned to three groups with 4 samplers in each group to collect individual exposures during four weekends in March 2016. Participants also completed cardiopulmonary function tests during the same periods. For comparison, ambient air pollution data were obtained from the Air Pollution Surveillance Network in Guangzhou, China. The 8-h ambient pollutant averages and group sampler concentrations were used as separate indicators of air pollution exposure. Results showed that the 8-h mean concentration of personal PM2.5 exposure was 65.09 ± 22.18 μg/m3, which was 24.34 μg/m3 statistically higher than the ambient concentrations over the same period (p

Compared with daily mean concentration of air pollution, hourly peak concentration may be more directly relevant to the acute health effects due to the high concentration levels, however, few have analyzed the acute mortality effects of hourly peak levels of air pollution. We examined the associations of hourly peak concentration of fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) with mortality in six cities in Pearl River Delta, China. We used generalized additive Poisson models to examine the associations with adjustment for potential confounders in each city. We further applied random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the regional overall effects. We further estimated the mortality burden attributable to hourly peak and daily mean PM2.5. We observed significant associations between hourly peak PM2.5 and mortality. Each 10 μg/m3 increase in 4-day averaged (lag03) hourly peak PM2.5 corresponded to a 0.9% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7%, 1.1%] increase in total mortality, 1.2% (95% CI: 1.0%, 1.5%) in cardiovascular mortality, and 0.7% (95% CI: 0.2%, 1.1%) in respiratory mortality. We observed a greater mortality burden using hourly peak PM2.5 than daily mean PM2.5, with an estimated 12915 (95% CI: 9922, 15949) premature deaths attributable to hourly peak PM2.5, and 7951 (95% CI: 5067, 10890) to daily mean PM2.5 in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region during the study period. This study suggests that hourly peak PM2.5 might be one important risk factor of mortality in PRD region of China; the finding provides important information for future air pollution management and epidemiological studies.

Epidemiological studies have reported inconsistent and inconclusive associations between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and lung function in children from Europe and America, where air pollution levels were typically low. The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between air pollutants and lung function in children selected from heavily industrialized and polluted cities in northeastern China. During 2012, 6740 boys and girls aged 7–14 years were recruited in 24 districts of seven northeastern cities. Portable electronic spirometers were used to measure lung function. Four-year average concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were measured at monitoring stations in the 24 districts. Two-staged regression models were used in the data analysis, controlling for covariates. Overall, for all subjects, the increased odds of lung function impairment associated with exposure to air pollutants, ranged from 5% (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01, 1.10) for FVC

A few studies have linked ambient air pollution with sex ratio at birth. Most of these studies examined the long-term effects using spatial or temporal comparison approaches. This study aimed to investigate whether parental exposure to air pollution before conception date could affect the likelihood of the offspring being male or female. We used the information collected in a major maternal hospital in Guangzhou, China. The parental exposure to air pollution was assessed using the air pollution concentration before the conception date. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between air pollution exposure and birth sex with adjustment for potential confounding factors, such as maternal age, parental education levels, long-term trend, season, and weather condition (mean temperature and relative humidity). The analysis revealed that higher air pollution was associated with higher probability of female newborns, with the effective exposure around one week prior to conception date. In the one-pollutant models, PM10, SO2 and NO2 had significant effects. For example, the excess risk was 0.61% (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.36%, 0.86%) for a 10 ug/m3 increase in lag 2 day's PM10, 0.42% (95% CI: 0.21%, 0.64%) for lag 3 day's SO2 and 0.97% (95% CI: 0.44%, 1.50%) for lag 3 day's NO2; and in two-pollutant models, PM10 remained statistically significant. These results suggest that parental exposure to ambient air pollution a few days prior to conception might be a contributing factor to higher probability of giving birth to female offspring in Guangzhou.

Objective To quantify the acute effect of ambient air pollution on the risk of respiratory diseases in children in a Chinese subtropical city, and to investigate whether seasonal influenza and season could modify this association. Methods A Generalized Additive Model was performed to evaluate the association between ambient air pollutants, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), respirable particulate matter (PM10), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and children's hospital visits for respiratory diseases in Shenzhen, China. Potential effect modification was identified by stratified analysis in terms of seasonal influenza and seasons. The robustness of the results was assessed by sensitivity analyses. Results A total of 2,569,021 hospital visits for respiratory diseases were recorded among children under 15 years old. We observed significant acute effects of air pollution, and the largest effects were observed during lag2 (two days after exposure) for PM2.5 [excess risk (ER) = 2.50% (95% CI: 1.88%, 3.12%)], PM10 [ER = 1.79% (95% CI: 1.37%, 2.21%)], O3 [ER = 0.59% (95% CI: 0.23%, 0.95%)], and SO2 [ER = 7.84% (95% CI: 5.17%, 10.58%)], and during lag0 (day of exposure) for NO2 [ER = 2.39% (95% CI: 1.74%, 3.05%)]. Season modified these effects with stronger associations being observed during the cold season. Seasonal influenza modified the effects of particulate matters towards stronger association during seasonal influenza epidemic, but this modification was not statistically significant. Conclusion Ambient air pollutants, specifically PM2.5, PM10, O3, SO2, and NO2, were significantly associated with increased child hospital visits for respiratory diseases in Shenzhen, China. The vulnerable windows for these effects were the cold season and seasonal influenza epidemics.

Experimental data suggests that exposure to airborne fine particulate matter is associated with obesity. There is little supporting epidemiologic evidence of this, however. To evaluate the effects of ambient air pollution on the prevalence of obesity among adults living in a primarily industrial province of northeast China, 24,845 Chinese adults between the ages of 18 and 74 were randomly recruited from 33 communities in 11 districts of three northeastern Chinese cities during 2009. The participants’ weight and height were measured. Three-year (2006–2008) average concentrations of particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were calculated from monitoring stations in each of the 11 districts. Two-level logistic regressions models were used to examine the effects of pollutants exposure. Overall, 35.3% (8764) were overweight and 5.8% (1435) were obese. After adjusting for confounding factors, significant associations between concentrations of air pollutants and prevalence of obesity were found. When the analysis was stratified by sex, the associations were significant only in women. Among women, an increased prevalence of obesity was associated with an interquartile range increase in PM10 (19 μg/m3; odds ratio [ORs] = 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.06–1.32), NO2 (9 μg/m3; ORs = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.09–1.41), and O3 (22 μg/m3; ORs = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.01–1.30). Associations were stronger among older participants. In conclusion, this study reveals a positive association between the long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and increased prevalence of obesity, and that these associations were more apparent in women than in men.

Previous studies examining pet ownership as a risk factor for respiratory conditions have yielded inconsistent results. Little is known about whether or not pet ownership modifies the relationship between air pollutants and respiratory symptoms and asthma in children. In order to evaluate the interaction between pet and air pollution on respiratory health in children, we recruited 30,149 children, aged 2–12 years, from 25 districts of seven cities in northeast China. Parents of the children completed questionnaires that characterized the children's histories of respiratory symptoms and illnesses and associated risk factors. Average ambient annual exposures to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were estimated from monitoring stations in each of the 25 study districts. The results showed that among children without pets at home, there were statistically significant associations between both recent exacerbations of asthma among physician-diagnosed asthmatics and respiratory symptoms and all pollutants examined. Odds ratios (ORs) ranged from 1.12 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00–1.26] to 1.41 (95% CI, 1.24–1.61) per 31 μg m−3 for PM10, whereas, among children with pets at home, there were no effects or small effects for either asthma or the symptoms. The interactions between dog ownership and PM10, SO2, NO2, and O3 were statistically significant, such that children with a dog at home had lower reporting of both current asthma and current wheeze. In conclusion, this study suggests that pet ownership decreased the effects of air pollution on respiratory symptoms and asthma among Chinese children.

Inconsistent results have been reported that long-term exposure to ambient air pollution contributes to the increased prevalence of stroke and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). In order to examine whether the exposure to ambient air pollution was associated with the prevalence of stroke and CVDs among people living in a heavy industrial province of northeast China, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 24,845 Chinese adults, ages 18–74 years old, from 33 communities in the 11 districts of the three Northeastern Chinese Cities during 2009. Three-year (2006–2008) average concentrations of particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxides (NO2), and Ozone (O3) were calculated from monitoring stations in each of the 11 districts. We used two-level logistic regressions models to examine the effects of yearly variations in exposure to each pollutant, controlling for important covariates. We found significant associations between PM10 and SO2 levels and stroke prevalence after accounting for important covariates: the adjusted odds ratio for stroke increased by 1.16 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.30) per 19 μg m−3 increase in PM10, and 1.14 (95%CI, 1.01–1.29) per 20 μg m−3 increase in SO2, respectively. When stratified analysis by gender, these associations were significant only in men, but not in women. In conclusion, this study shows the association between long-term exposure to PM10 and SO2 and increased stroke prevalence, and the associations were more apparent in men than in women.

The authors regret the misspelling of co-author ‘Kahee A. Mohammed’. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.