Impact of ultrafine particles and total particle number concentration on five cause-specific hospital admission endpoints in three German cities

Abstract

Introduction: Numerous studies have shown associations between daily concentrations of fine particles (e.g., particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm; PM_2.5) and morbidity. However, evidence for ultrafine particles (UFP; particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 10-100 nm) remains conflicting. Therefore, we aimed to examine the short-term associations of UFP with five cause-specific hospital admission endpoints for Leipzig, Dresden, and Augsburg, Germany.

Material and methods: We obtained daily counts of (cause-specific) cardiorespiratory hospital admissions between 2010 and 2017. Daily average concentrations of UFP, total particle number (PNC; 10-800 nm), and black carbon (BC) were measured at six sites; PM_2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) were obtained from monitoring networks. We assessed immediate (lag 0-1), delayed (lag 2-4, lag 5-7), and cumulative (lag 0-7) effects by applying station-specific confounder-adjusted Poisson regression models. We then used a novel multi-level meta-analytical method to obtain pooled risk estimates. Finally, we performed two-pollutant models to investigate interdependencies between pollutants and examined possible effect modification by age, sex, and season.

Results: UFP showed a delayed (lag 2-4) increase in respiratory hospital admissions of 0.69% [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.28%; 1.67%]. For other hospital admission endpoints, we found only suggestive results. Larger particle size fractions, such as accumulation mode particles (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 100-800 nm), generally showed stronger effects (respiratory hospital admissions & lag 2-4: 1.55% [95% CI: 0.86%; 2.25%]). PM_2.5 showed the most consistent associations for (cardio-)respiratory hospital admissions, whereas NO₂ did not show any associations. Two-pollutant models showed independent effects of PM_2.5 and BC. Moreover, higher risks have been observed for children.

Conclusions: We observed clear associations with PM_2.5 but UFP or PNC did not show a clear association across different exposure windows and cause-specific hospital admissions. Further multi-center studies are needed using harmonized UFP measurements to draw definite conclusions on the health effects of UFP.

Keywords: Ambient air pollution; Hospital admission; Morbidity; Particle number concentrations; Particulate matter; Ultrafine particles.