High Air Pollution Days Tied to Excess Hospitalizations

FRIDAY, March 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Greater hospital admission risks for cardiovascular events are seen on high ozone pollution days, according to a study published online March 10 in the European Heart Journal.

Yunxing Jiang, from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, and colleagues examined the potential acute effects of exposure to ambient ozone pollution on hospital admissions for cardiovascular events in China. The analysis included 6.4 million hospital admissions for cardiovascular events in 70 Chinese cities of prefecture level or above (2015 to 2017).

The researchers found that a 10 μg/m³ increment in two-day average daily eight-hour maximum ozone concentrations was associated with admission risk increases for coronary heart disease (0.46 percent), angina pectoris (0.45 percent), acute myocardial infarction (0.75 percent), acute coronary syndrome (0.70 percent), heart failure (0.50 percent), stroke (0.40 percent), and ischemic stroke (0.41 percent). For high ozone pollution days (two-day average eight-hour maximum concentrations ≥100 µg/m³ versus <70 µg/m³), the excess admission risks for these cardiovascular events ranged from 3.38 percent for stroke to 6.52 percent for acute myocardial infarction.

“Ambient ozone was associated with increased hospital admission risk for cardiovascular events. Greater admission risks for cardiovascular events were observed under high ozone pollution days,” the authors write. “These results provide evidence for the harmful cardiovascular effects of ambient ozone and call for special attention on the control of high ozone pollution.”