Associations between Air Pollution and County Level Cardiovascular Mortality in the United States by Ecoregions
Year: 2021
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND AIM: Air pollution has been strongly associated with cardiovascular outcomes. However, it is unclear whether such associations vary with differences in biotic and abiotic surroundings. Therefore, we investigated whether the associations between air pollutants and mortality vary by ecosystems in the United States. METHODS: County level age-adjusted mortality data were linked to average yearly pollutant levels (PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, NO2, SO2) for 2010 in the contiguous United States (n=3,071). Counties were classified into EPA level II ecoregions. Associations between IQR of pollutant levels and log-transformed mortality rates, clustered by ecoregion, were estimated using linear mixed models. All models were adjusted for population density, urbanicity, and percentage of the county residents who were: male, white, smokers, obese, high school educated, in poverty, and binge drinkers. RESULTS:Cardiovascular mortality was strongly associated with PM2.5 (5.9% per 2.94 µg/m3; 95% CI: 5.1, 6.7), and to a lesser extent, PM10, ozone, SO2, and NO2. In ecoregion specific analyses, we observed stronger associations between PM2.5 and cardiovascular mortality in the South Central Semi-Arid Prairies (9.4%; 95% CI: 7.8, 10.9), and Atlantic Highlands (8.4%; 95% CI: 6.2, 10.7). For PM10 and ozone, the strongest associations with cardiovascular mortality were observed in the Southeastern USA Plains: 3.8% increase per 5.7 µg/m3 (95% CI: 2.8, 4.9), and 2.9% increase per 7.2 ppb (95% CI: 2.1, 3.7), respectively. We also observed stronger associations between NO2 (4.2% per 2.1 ppb; 95% CI: 2.6, 6.0) and SO2 (8.1% per 0.6 ppb; 95% CI: 5.7, 10.6) with cardiovascular mortality in the Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains, an area with humid climate and wetlands. CONCLUSIONS:The county-level association between air pollution and cardiovascular mortality varies by ecoregion, suggesting that the type, quality, and quantity of the surrounding natural environment, or regional pollution composition, may modify the cardiovascular effects of air pollutants. KEYWORDS: air pollution, cardiovascular mortality, natural environment, ecosystem
Source: ISEE Conference Abstracts
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3194458237