Short-term associations of fine particulate matter components and emergency hospital admissions among a privately insured population in Greater Houston

• Published in: Atmospheric environment (1994) 2016-12, Vol.147, p.369-375
• Main Authors: Liu, Suyang, Ganduglia, Cecilia M., Li, Xiao, Delclos, George L., Franzini, Luisa, Zhang, Kai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Components; Fine particulate matter; Hospital admissions; Poisson regression; Species; Time series
• ISSN: 1352-2310; 1873-2844
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.10.021

A number of time-series studies have associated PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) mass and components with various health outcomes. No studies have yet examined the associations between PM2.5 components and hospital admissions among a privately insured population. We estimated the short-term associations between exposure to PM2.5 mass and components and emergency hospital admissions for all-cause and cause-specific diseases in Greater Houston, Texas, during 2008–2013 using Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas claims data. A total of 90,085 emergency hospital admissions were included in this study, with an average of 34 ± 10 admissions per day. We selected 20 PM2.5 components from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chemical Speciation Network site located in Houston, and then applied Poisson regression models to assess the short-term effects of PM2.5 mass and species on emergency hospital admissions. Effects were estimated without adjustment for other airborne pollutants. PM2.5 mass was not statistically significantly associated with increased all-cause emergency hospital admissions and selected cause-specific admissions. For selected PM2.5 species, we found interquartile range increases in arsenic (0.001 μg/m3) and copper (0.017 μg/m3) were significantly (P