Rt. Burnett et al., EFFECTS OF LOW AMBIENT LEVELS OF OZONE AND SULFATES ON THE FREQUENCY OF RESPIRATORY ADMISSIONS TO ONTARIO HOSPITALS, Environmental research, 65(2), 1994, pp. 172-194
To investigate the acute respiratory health effects of ambient air pol
lution, the number of emergency or urgent daily respiratory admissions
to 168 acute care hospitals in Ontario were related to estimates of e
xposure to ozone and sulfates in the vicinity of each hospital. Ozone
levels were obtained from 22 monitoring stations maintained by the Ont
ario Ministry of the Environment for the period January 1, 1983 to Dec
ember 31, 1988. Daily levels of sulfates were recorded at nine monitor
ing stations representing three different networks operated by the Ont
ario Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada, Positive and
statistically significant associations were found between hospital adm
issions and both ozone and sulfates recorded on the day of admission a
nd up to 3 days prior to the date of admission. Five percent of daily
respiratory admissions in the months of May to August were associated
with ozone, with sulfates accounting for an additional 1% of these adm
issions. Ozone was a stronger predictor of admissions than sulfates. P
ositive and statistically significant (P < 0.05) associations were obs
erved between the ozone-sulfate pollution mix and admissions for asthm
a, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and infections. Positive ass
ociations were also found in all age groups, with the largest impact o
n infants (15% of admissions associated with the ozone-sulfate polluti
on mix) and the least effects on the elderly (4%). Temperature had no
effect on the air pollution-admission relationship. Ozone (lagged 1 da
y) and sulfates (lagged 1 day) displayed a positive association with r
espiratory admissions for 91 and 100% of the 168 acute care hospitals,
respectively. Air pollution was not related to a class of nonrespirat
ory admissions, which served as a negative control, nor was it related
to admissions in the winter-months of December to March, when ozone a
nd sulfate levels are low and when people spend a considerable amount
of time indoors. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.