Journal Article

Short-Term Relationship Between Air Pollution and Mortality from Respiratory and Cardiovascular Diseases in China, 2008–2020

Li, Mengyao, Guan, Xinpeng, Qi, Jinlei, Wang, Zifa, Xu, Hongbing, Liu, Yunning, Wu, Jing, Yin, Peng, Sun, Yitong, You, Jinling, Wang, Lijun, Wu, Rongshan, He, Xinghou, Huang, Wei, Zhang, Bin, Liu, Jiangmei, He, Xinghua, Shan, Xuyang, Wu, Jianbin

2025

Overview

Most existing epidemiological studies on the impact of air pollution on noncommunicable diseases have focused on urban areas, rather than nationwide studies that include rural areas. This study utilized a time-stratified case-crossover study that included deaths registered in the National Mortality Surveillance System from 2008 to 2020. Atmospheric particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) were evaluated via the National Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System. Conditional logistic regression was used to assess the associations between short-term air pollution exposure and the risk of respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. There were increases in the risk of respiratory diseases (0.12%, 0.10%, 0.10%, 0.05%, and 0.40%) and CVDs (0.08%, 0.07%, 0.03%, 0.02%, and 0.22%) for each 10 μg/m3 increase in the concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and SO2, respectively, and for each 1 mg/m3 increase in the concentration of CO, which may be associated with the participants’ characteristics. The results of these national analyses indicate that ambient air pollutants are significantly associated with increased risks of respiratory disease and CVD death in both urban and rural areas, which is critical for air pollution control, especially in low- and middle-income areas.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Air pollution / Air pollution control / Air quality / Analysis / Carbon monoxide / Cardiovascular diseases / case crossover study / CVDs / Developing countries / Epidemiology / Heart diseases / Humidity / Indoor air quality / LDCs / Liu, Timothy / Lung diseases / Mortality / Nitrogen dioxide / Outdoor air quality / Particulate emissions / Particulate matter / Pollutants / Pollution control / Population / Prediction models / Respiratory diseases / Rural areas / short-term / Simulation / Sulfur / Sulfur compounds / Sulfur dioxide / Surveillance systems / Urban areas