Short-term effects of ultrafine particles on daily mortality by primary vehicle exhaust versus secondary origin in three Spanish cities

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the short-term effects of ultrafine particles (with diameter<100nm, UFP) on health is still inconsistent. New particles in ambient urban air are the result of direct emissions and also the formation of secondary UFP from gaseous precursors. We segregated UFP into these...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Tobias, Aurelio, Rivas, Ioar, Reche, Cristina, Alastuey, Andrés, Rodríguez, Sergio Betancourt, Fernández Camacho, Rocío, Sánchez de la Campa, Ana M., Rosa, Jesús de la, Sunyer Deu, Jordi, Querol, Xavier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/34345
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/34345
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2017.11.015
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Black carbon
Mortality
Secondary emissions
Time series
Ultrafine particles
Vehicle exhaust
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Evidence on the short-term effects of ultrafine particles (with diameter<100nm, UFP) on health is still inconsistent. New particles in ambient urban air are the result of direct emissions and also the formation of secondary UFP from gaseous precursors. We segregated UFP into these two components and investigated their impact on daily mortality in three Spanish cities affected by different sources of air pollution. METHODS: We separated the UFP using a method based on the high correlation between black carbon (BC) and particle number concentration (N). The first component accounts for aerosol constituents emitted by vehicle exhaust (N1) and the second for the photochemical new particle formation enhancements (N2). We applied city-specific Poisson regression models, adjusting for long-term trends, temperature and population dynamics. RESULTS: Mean BC levels were higher in Barcelona and Tenerife (1.8 and 1.2μg·m-3, respectively) than in Huelva (0.8μg·m-3). While mean UFP concentrations were similar in the three cities, from which N1 was 40% in Barcelona, 46% in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and 27% in Huelva. We observed an association with N1 and daily mortality in Barcelona, by increasing approximately 1.5% between lags 0 and 2, per an interquartile increase (IQR) of 3277cm-3, but not with N2. A similar pattern was found in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, although none of the associations were significant. Conversely, in the industrial city of Huelva mortality was associated with N2 at lag 0, by increasing 3.9% per an IQR of 12,032·cm-3. CONCLUSION: The pattern and origin of UFP determines their short-term effect on human health. BC is possibly the better parameter to evaluate the health effects of particulate vehicle exhaust emissions, although in areas influenced by domestic solid fuel combustion this should also be taken into account.