Dataset Information

Assessment of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments for wildfire seasons in British Columbia.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Wildfire smoke is an important source of air pollution associated with a range of cardiopulmonary health conditions. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is the most widely used tool in Canada to communicate with the public about air pollution, but it may not adequately reflect health risks from wildfire smoke. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the AQHI and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments to predict adverse population health effects from wildfire smoke.

Methods

The maximum 1-h values of the AQHI and the four amendments were calculated for each 48-h period of the wildfire seasons from 2010 to 2017 for 32 health units in British Columbia. Generalized Poisson models were used to estimate the association between these values and daily counts of five health outcomes: all-cause mortality; physician visits for all circulatory causes; visits for all respiratory causes, including asthma; asthma-specific visits; and dispensations of salbutamol sulfate (i.e., Ventolin®). Model fit was evaluated with the Akaike information criterion.

Results

The AQHI and the four amendments were all associated with all five health outcomes. The AQHI exhibited best fit to the all-cause mortality and circulatory physician visits during all wildfire seasons, while the 1-h PM_2.5Only AQHI-Plus exhibited best fit to the asthma-related outcomes during all wildfire seasons.

Conclusion

Individuals with common respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are particularly susceptible to wildfire smoke. As such, the 1-h PM_2.5Only AQHI-Plus amendment was recommended for communicating about potential health effects of air quality during wildfire seasons in BC.

SUBMITTER: Yao J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7046905 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Assessment of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments for wildfire seasons in British Columbia.

Yao Jiayun J Stieb Dave M DM Taylor Eric E Henderson Sarah B SB

Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique 20190708 1

<h4>Objective</h4>Wildfire smoke is an important source of air pollution associated with a range of cardiopulmonary health conditions. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is the most widely used tool in Canada to communicate with the public about air pollution, but it may not adequately reflect health risks from wildfire smoke. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the AQHI and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments to predict adverse population health effects from wildfire smo ...[more]

PMID: 31286460

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during wildfire seasons has been associated with adverse health outcomes. Previous studies have focused on daily exposure, but PM2.5 levels in smoke events can vary considerably within 1 d.Objectives: We aimed to assess the immediate and lagged relationship between sub-daily exposure to PM2.5 and acute health outcomes during wildfire seasons in British Columbia.Methods: We used a time-stratified case-crossover study design to evaluate the association between modeled hourly PM2.5 and ambulance dispatches during wildfire seasons from 2010 to 2015. Distributed lag nonlinear models were used to estimate the lag-specific and cumulative odds ratios (ORs) at lags from 1 to 48 h. We examined the relationship for all dispatches and dispatches related to respiratory, circulatory, and diabetic conditions, identified by codes for ambulance dispatch (AD), paramedic assessment (PA) or hospital diagnosis (HD).Results: Increased respiratory health outcomes were observed within 1 h of exposure to a 10-?g/m3 increase in PM2.5. The 48-h cumulative OR [95% confidence interval (CI)] was 1.038 (1.009, 1.067) for the AD code Breathing Problems and 1.098 (1.013, 1.189) for PA code Asthma/COPD. The point estimates were elevated within 1 h for the PA code for Myocardial Infarction and HD codes for Ischemic Heart Disease, which had 24-h cumulative ORs of 1.104 (0.915, 1.331) and 1.069 (0.983, 1.162), respectively. The odds of Diabetic AD and PA codes increased over time to a cumulative 24-h OR of 1.075 (1.001, 1.153) and 1.104 (1.015, 1.202) respectively.Conclusions: We found increased PM2.5 during wildfire seasons was associated with some respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes within 1 h following exposure, and its association with diabetic outcomes increased over time. Cumulative effects were consistent with those reported elsewhere in the literature. These results warrant further investigation and may have implications for the appropriate time scale of public health actions. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5792.

Dataset Information

Assessment of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments for wildfire seasons in British Columbia.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Assessment of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments for wildfire seasons in British Columbia.

Similar Datasets

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