Abstract
A >7-year, time-series, epidemiologic study is ongoing in Spokane, Washington, to examine the associations between ambient particulate constituents or sources and health outcomes such as emergency department (ED) visits for asthma or respiratory problems. One of the hypotheses being tested is that particulate toxic metals are associated with these health outcomes. Spokane is a desirable city in which to conduct this study because of its relatively high concentrations of particulate matter, low concentrations of potentially confounding air pollutants, variability of particulate sources, and presence of several potential particulate metals sources. Daily fine- and coarse-fraction particulate samples are analyzed for metals via energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and instrumental neutron activation analysis. Particulate sources are determined using receptor modeling, including chemical mass balancing and positive matrix factorization coupled with partial source contribution function analysis. Principal component analysis has also been used to examine the influence of sources on the daily variability of the chemical composition of particulate samples. Based upon initial analyses using the EDXRF elemental analyses, statistically significant associations were observed between ED visits for asthma and increased combustion products, air stagnation, and fine particulate Zn. Although there is a significant soil particulate component, increased crustal particulate levels were not found to be associated with ED visits for asthma. Further research will clarify whether there is an association between specific health outcomes and either coarse or fine particulate metal species.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (476.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Daniels M. J., Dominici F., Samet J. M., Zeger S. L. Estimating particulate matter-mortality dose-response curves and threshold levels: an analysis of daily time-series for the 20 largest US cities. Am J Epidemiol. 2000 Sep 1;152(5):397–406. doi: 10.1093/aje/152.5.397. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kelleher P., Pacheco K., Newman L. S. Inorganic dust pneumonias: the metal-related parenchymal disorders. Environ Health Perspect. 2000 Aug;108 (Suppl 4):685–696. doi: 10.1289/ehp.00108s4685. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kennedy T., Ghio A. J., Reed W., Samet J., Zagorski J., Quay J., Carter J., Dailey L., Hoidal J. R., Devlin R. B. Copper-dependent inflammation and nuclear factor-kappaB activation by particulate air pollution. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 1998 Sep;19(3):366–378. doi: 10.1165/ajrcmb.19.3.3042. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lighty J. S., Veranth J. M., Sarofim A. F. Combustion aerosols: factors governing their size and composition and implications to human health. J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2000 Sep;50(9):1565–1622. doi: 10.1080/10473289.2000.10464197. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Norris G., Larson T., Koenig J., Claiborn C., Sheppard L., Finn D. Asthma aggravation, combustion, and stagnant air. Thorax. 2000 Jun;55(6):466–470. doi: 10.1136/thorax.55.6.466. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pope C. A., 3rd Respiratory disease associated with community air pollution and a steel mill, Utah Valley. Am J Public Health. 1989 May;79(5):623–628. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.5.623. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pope C. A., 3rd Respiratory hospital admissions associated with PM10 pollution in Utah, Salt Lake, and Cache Valleys. Arch Environ Health. 1991 Mar-Apr;46(2):90–97. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1991.9937434. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schwartz J. Air pollution and hospital admissions for respiratory disease. Epidemiology. 1996 Jan;7(1):20–28. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199601000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schwartz J., Dockery D. W., Neas L. M. Is daily mortality associated specifically with fine particles? J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 1996 Oct;46(10):927–939. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schwartz J., Norris G., Larson T., Sheppard L., Claiborne C., Koenig J. Episodes of high coarse particle concentrations are not associated with increased mortality. Environ Health Perspect. 1999 May;107(5):339–342. doi: 10.1289/ehp.99107339. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]