Short-Term Association between Black Carbon Exposure and Cardiovascular Diseases in Pakistan’s Largest Megacity

Atmosphere

Azhar Siddique¹  David Carpenter²  HaiderA. Khwaja²  Shao Lin²  Daniel Malashock³  Yi Lu⁴  Zafar Fatmi⁵ 

[1] Injuries Unit, Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan;Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1 University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA;Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA;Environmental Health, Public Health Department, Ministry of Public Health, Doha 42, Qatar;;Environmental and Occupational Health &

关键词: air pollution;    environmental exposure;    fine particulate matter;    black carbon;    Pakistan;    cardiovascular;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos9110420

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study investigated the association between black carbon (BC) exposure and hospital admissions (HAs) and outpatient department/emergency room (OPD/ER) visits for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among residents of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. We measured daily concentrations of BC in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and collected records of HAs and OPD/ER visits for CVD from 2 major tertiary care hospitals serving Karachi for 6 weeks continuously during each quarter over 1 year (August 2008⁻August 2009). We subsequently analyzed daily counts of hospital and BC data over 0⁻3 lag days. Daily mean BC concentrations varied from 1 to 32 µg/m³. Results suggest that BC concentrations are associated with CVD HAs and OPD/ER visits. However, associations were generally only observed when modeled with BC from Tibet Center, the commercial-residential site, as compared to Korangi, the industrial-residential site. Overall, low statistical significance suggests that while BC may be a valuable indicator for CVD health risks from combustion-derived particles, further evaluation of the constituents of PM_2.5 and their relative contributions to CVD health impacts is necessary.

【 授权许可】

Unknown