Ultrafine Particles and Hospital Visits for Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases in New York State.

Rationale: Exposure to particulate matter is associated with various adverse health outcomes. Ultrafine particles (UFPs; diameter <0.1 μm) are a unique public health challenge because of their size. However, limited studies have examined their impacts on human health, especially across seasons and demographic characteristics.

Objectives

To evaluate the effect of UFP exposure on the risk of visiting the emergency department (ED) for a chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD) in New York State in 2013-2018.

Methods

We used a case-crossover design and conditional logistic regression to estimate how UFP exposure led to CLRD-related ED visits. GEOS-Chem Advanced Particle Microphysics, a state-of-the-art chemical transport model with a size-resolved particle microphysics model, generated air pollution simulation data. We then matched UFP exposure estimates to geocoded health records for asthma, bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, unspecified bronchitis, and other chronic airway obstructions in New York State from 2013 through 2018. In addition, we assessed interactions with age, ethnicity, race, sex, meteorological factors, and season.

Results

Each 1-(interquartile range [IQR]) increase in UFP exposure led to a 0.37% increased risk of a respiratory-related ED visit on lag 0-0, or the day of the ED visits, (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23-0.52%) and a 1.81% increase on lag 0-6, or 6 days before the ED visit, (95% CI, 1.58-2.03%). The highest risk was in the emphysema subtype (lag 0-5, 4.18%; 95% CI, 0.16-8.37%), followed by asthma (lag 0-6, 2.00%), chronic bronchitis (lag 0-6, 1.78%), other chronic airway obstructions (lag 0-6, 1.60%), and unspecified bronchitis (lag 0-6, 1.49%). We also found significant interactions between UFP health impacts and season (Fall, 3.29%), temperature (<90th percentile, 2.27%), relative humidity (>90th percentile, 4.63%), age (children aged <18 yr, 3.19%), and sex (men, 2.06%) on lag 0-6.

Conclusions

In this study, UFP exposure increased CLRD-related ED visits across all seasons and demographic characteristics, yet these associations varied according to various factors, which requires more research.