Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Exposure to chemicals
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

Recent studies have associated short-term exposure to respirable particulate matter (PM₁₀) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂ ) with peak flow decrements, increased symptoms of respiratory irritation, increased use of asthma medications, and increased admissions for asthma. To further delineate the association between SO₂, PM₁₀ exposure and asthmatic response, we compiled daily records of asthma emergency room visits from our hospital and data of meteorological conditions, SO₂ and PM₁₀ concentrations in Ankara area. Weekly averages of daily counts of emergency room visits for asthma were significantly associated with average weekly SO₂ and PM₁₀ exposure on previous week (r= 0.328, p=0.017 and r= 0.355, p=0.009 respectively). Admission to emergency room for asthma counts were also negatively correlated with ambient temperature (r= - 0.496, p=0.0001) and strong wind existence (X² =3.930 p=0.047) on previous days. They were positively corralated with ambient relative humidity (r= 0.531, p=0.0001). We observed that numbers of emergency visits due to asthma were higher in winter months, April and September. In winter and early spring period there was concordance between asthma emergency admission with air pollutants levels. But during the period with the highest air pollution concentrations, ambient temperatures were low as well. There was a peak in asthma emergency visits in September and it did not appear to be related to air pollution. The general pattern of our results confirms that even low levels of air pollution encountered in Ankara are linked to short-term increases in the number of people visiting emergency department for asthma.

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Citations should be made in the following way:
B. M. Berktas, A. Bircan (Ankara, Turkey). Effects of atmospheric sulphur dioxide and particulate matter concentrations on emergency room admissions due to asthma in Ankara, Turkey. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 866

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