142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Association of air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in Reykjavik, Iceland: A population based case-crossover study

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Ragnhildur G Finnbjornsdottir, Ms , Department of Public Health sciences, Centre of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Bjarki Thor Elvarsson, Mr , Science Institute, University of Iceland, Science Institute, University of Iceland, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland
Anna Oudin, Mrs , Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Thorarinn Gislason, Mr , Department of allergy and respiratory medicine and sleep, Landspítali University Hospital, Faculty of medicine, University of Iceland, 108 Reykjavik
Vilhjalmur Rafnsson, MD , Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Background: The aim was to study short-term associations of NO2, O3, PM10, SO2, and H2S concentrations and cardiovascular mortality in Reykjavík capital area.

Methods: Data on daily mortality were obtained from the National Cause-of-Death Registry, Statistics Iceland, during 2003 to 2009. One hour measures of NO2, O3, PM10, SO2, and H2S were obtained from the Environment Agency of Iceland for the same time period. A time-stratified case-crossover design was used to estimate the possible effect of short-term exposure of air pollution and cardiovascular mortality.

Results: The total number of deaths due to cardiovascular causes over the study period was 2,070 cases. The inter-quartile range (IQR) of the 24-hour concentration levels of NO2, O3, PM10, SO2, and H2S over the study period was 17 μg/m3, 20 μg/m3, 13 μg/m3, 2 μg/m3, 2 μg/m3, respectively. The association for IQR increases of the pollutants and cardiovascular mortality were not statistically significant at any time lag, with odds ratios near unity.

Conclusion: The pollution concentration levels in Reykjavík are generally low in an international perspective, but peaks of pollutants, such as PM10, may exceed peaks occurring in other European cities. Previous studies have implied that air pollution in Reykjavik could increase consumption of medicament against asthma and angina pectoris. However, there were no short-term associations between air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in the present study, contrary to what has been found elsewhere.

Learning Areas:

Environmental health sciences
Epidemiology
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Explain the procedure of case-crossover studies Discuss the use of mortality data from nation-wide registry Discuss how to design and conduct an ecological study with adjustment for several risk factors

Keyword(s): Air Pollution & Respiratory Health, Mortality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am currently professor in Preventive Medicine at the University of Iceland, and my research and publications include assessment of environmental factors and the possible adverse effects to health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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