Air Pollution and Health

Air pollution is the leading risk factor among all risks in the global burden of diseases. Our research utilizes time-series and case-crossover designs to assess the adverse health effects of short-term exposure to air pollutants and their interactions with extreme temperatures from a local to global scale. Our recent work sheds light on the effect of ambient ultrafine particles on nonfatal heart attacks, the link between ambient particulate matter pollution and increased mental health outpatient visits, and the adverse mortality effects of ambient carbon monoxide at levels well below the current air quality guidelines. Our ongoing and future work will further address the health effects of both short-term and long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and the interactive effects of combined exposure to air pollution and extreme weather events.

In this study, using data from 2.8 million public school students in North Carolina from 2001 to 2018 and their measured exposure to PM2.5, we employed a two-way fixed-effects model and found that each 1 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 corresponded with a lower standardized end-of-grade mathematics test scores and a lower standardized end-of-grade reading test scores. We also found that test scores of ethnic minorities and girls were disproportionately impacted by PM2.5 levels, potentially pointing to consequences of structural sexism and racism and a lack of resources that could otherwise buffer the negative influences of higher PM2.5 exposure, compared to groups that may have more resources, such as homes with air purifiers.

Published in JAMA Network Open, 2023

Learn more about negatively impact of polluted air on children’s test scores.

In this study, we assessed the PM2.5-attributable cardiovascular deaths by race/ethnicity across 3,103 US counties during 2001–2016 and found that despite reductions in air pollution, Black Americans and other racialized and minoritized populations still experience disproportionately high rates of cardiovascular disease deaths related to fine particle pollution (PM2.5) exposure. A 1 µg m-3 increase in PM2.5 concentration was associated with increases of 7.16 cardiovascular deaths per 1,000,000 Black people per month, significantly higher than the estimates for non-Hispanic white people (1.76), even though the absolute mortality burden disparity was reduced by 44.04% from 2001 to 2016 between non-Hispanic Black and white people.

Published in Nature Human Behaviour, 2023

Learn more about health burden of air pollution among racial groups.

In this study, we contributed to evidence that the health impacts of wildfire smoke can be felt by people hundreds of miles away from the wildfire. We examined the link between daily mean PM2.5 levels and asthma-related emergency department visits in NYC during the 2023 Canadian wildfire smoke wave, compared to a smoke-free reference period. During the smoke wave, PM2.5 levels averaged 100.9 µg/m3 (vs. 9.0 µg/m3 in the reference period), and asthma ED visits rose to 261 per day (vs. 181.5 per day in the reference period). The increased risk for asthma visits was observed in both younger and older age groups, with a greater risk in older groups, and results were consistent when analyzed with different reference periods.

Published in JAMA, 2023

Learn more about Canadian wildfire smoke associated with increased asthma cases in NYC.

This study shows that transient (6-12 hours) exposure to particle number, length, and surface area concentrations or other potentially related exposures may trigger the onset of nonfatal myocardial infraction.

Published in Environmental Health Perspectives, 2020

This study shows more ambient particulate matter pollution could be linked to higher rates of mental health service utilization.

Published in Environ Res, 2020.

In this nationwide prospective cohort study of Chinese older adults aged 65–110 years, long-term exposure to ozone was associated with an elevated risk of cognitive impairment after controlling for potential confounders. The exposure-response curve showed a continuously elevated cognitive impairment risk with increasing ozone concentrations.

Published in Environment International, 2022

In collaboration with the Multi-Country Multi-City (MCC) Collaborative Research Network, using data collected from 337 cities across 18 countries from 1979 to 2016, we found that even short-term exposure to ambient carbon monoxide (CO) — at levels below the current air quality guidelines and considered safe — had an association with increased mortality.

Published in The Lancet Planetary Health, 2021.

In this study, we found that short-term exposures to PM2.5 and PM10 are risk factors for urinary system disease (UD), based on daily UD inpatient hospital admissions through the emergency room (ER-admissions) in Beijing during 2013–2018.

Published in Environmental Pollution, 2021

This study reveals that high temperature could enhance the harmful effects of air pollution and high air pollution could also modify heat effects on mortality.

Published in Environment International, 2018