Individual Effects and Interactions Between Ultrafine Particles and Extreme Temperatures on Hospital Admissions of High Burden Diseases

Quan Qi, Yukang Xue, Najm Madani, RANDY TANGANG, Fangqun Yu, Arshad Arjunan Nair, Xiaobo Romeiko, Gan Luo, Isa Brackett, Chris Thorncroft, Shao Lin, University at Albany, State University of New York

     Abstract Number: 27
     Working Group: Chemicals of Emerging Concern in Indoor and Outdoor Aerosol: Sources, Vectors, Reactivity, and Impacts

Abstract
Background
Health effects of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and their interactions with temperature are less studied. We investigated the risks of UFPs concentrations and extreme temperatures on hospitalizations for high-burden diseases (HBDs) in New York State (NYS).

Methods
This case-crossover study included hospitalizations for HBDs that contain ischemic heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, kidney diseases, and depression using NYS Hospital Discharge Data (2013–2018). Daily pollutants and temperature data were obtained from a chemical transport model validated by multiple prior studies. UFP changes were measured using interquartile range increase, and extreme heat and cold were defined as temperatures >= 90th% and <=10th% respectively by month and location. Conditional logistic regression was applied controlling for criteria pollutants, relative humidity, and time-varying variables.

Results
Among 1,308,518 cases, significant risk ratios (RR) were observed for UFPs (RRs ranged: 1.009–1.012) and extreme heat (RRs ranged: 1.024–1.028) on overall HBDs, but extreme cold had protective effects on HBDs. The adverse effect of UFPs had significant interactions with extreme cold and was higher in winter and fall. UFPs affected all HBD subtypes except kidney diseases, and extreme heat increased the risks of ischemic heart disease and kidney disease. There were disparities across demographics in exposures-HBDs associations although they were not statistically significant. Elevated UFP concentrations were associated with four clinical indicators (hospital stays, charges etc.).

Conclusion
We observe positive associations between elevated UFP concentrations or extreme heat and HBD hospitalizations, but negative associations with extreme cold. The UFPs’ risks were higher in children and during cold seasons.