Short-Term Association between Black Carbon Exposure and Cardiovascular Diseases in Pakistan’s Largest Megacity

This study investigated the association between black carbon (BC) exposure and hospital admissions (HAs) and outpatient department/emergency room (OPD/ER) visits for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among residents of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. We measured daily concentrations of BC in fine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmosphere 2018-11, Vol.9 (11), p.420
Main Authors: Malashock, Daniel, Khwaja, Haider, Fatmi, Zafar, Siddique, Azhar, Lu, Yi, Lin, Shao, Carpenter, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Black carbon
cardiovascular
Cardiovascular diseases
Emergency medical services
environmental exposure
Environmental factors
Environmental health
fine particulate matter
Health risks
Literature reviews
Megacities
Mortality
Outdoor air quality
Pakistan
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Womens health
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Summary:This study investigated the association between black carbon (BC) exposure and hospital admissions (HAs) and outpatient department/emergency room (OPD/ER) visits for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among residents of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. We measured daily concentrations of BC in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and collected records of HAs and OPD/ER visits for CVD from 2 major tertiary care hospitals serving Karachi for 6 weeks continuously during each quarter over 1 year (August 2008–August 2009). We subsequently analyzed daily counts of hospital and BC data over 0–3 lag days. Daily mean BC concentrations varied from 1 to 32 µg/m3. Results suggest that BC concentrations are associated with CVD HAs and OPD/ER visits. However, associations were generally only observed when modeled with BC from Tibet Center, the commercial-residential site, as compared to Korangi, the industrial-residential site. Overall, low statistical significance suggests that while BC may be a valuable indicator for CVD health risks from combustion-derived particles, further evaluation of the constituents of PM2.5 and their relative contributions to CVD health impacts is necessary.
ISSN:2073-4433
2073-4433
DOI:10.3390/atmos9110420