BACKGROUND: From 5 to 12 January 1994, the state of New South Wales suffered from the worst bushfires seen this century. High levels of particulate air pollution were recorded in western Sydney from 7 to 14 January 1994, with nephelometry readings reaching 10.24 beta scat (10(-4)/m) and particulate matter < 10 mu readings peaking at 250.00 micrograms/m3. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was an increase in the proportion of asthma presentations to emergency departments (ED) in western Sydney as a result of the bushfire-generated particulate air pollution. METHOD: We retrospectively analysed the emergency room attendance books for asthma presentations from seven public hospitals serving the Western Sydney and Wentworth Health Areas over two 6-7 week periods, 17 December 1992 to 31 January 1993, and 17 December 1993 to 31 January 1994. Air pollution and meteorological data were obtained from local monitoring stations. RESULTS: The difference in the proportion of all ED presentations that were due to asthma during the week of the bushfire-generated air pollution, compared with the same week 12 months before, after adjusting for baseline changes over the 12-month period, was 0.0067 (95% CI: -0.0007, 0.0141). The maximum daily nephelometry reading was not a significant predictor of the daily number of asthma presentations to ED in any of the Poisson regression models. CONCLUSIONS: The bushfire-generated particulate air pollution in January 1994 did not result in an increase in asthma presentations to ED in western Sydney.
BACKGROUND: From 5 to 12 January 1994, the state of New South Wales suffered from the worst bushfires seen this century. High levels of particulate air pollution were recorded in western Sydney from 7 to 14 January 1994, with nephelometry readings reaching 10.24 beta scat (10(-4)/m) and particulate matter < 10 mu readings peaking at 250.00 micrograms/m3. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was an increase in the proportion of asthma presentations to emergency departments (ED) in western Sydney as a result of the bushfire-generated particulate air pollution. METHOD: We retrospectively analysed the emergency room attendance books for asthma presentations from seven public hospitals serving the Western Sydney and Wentworth Health Areas over two 6-7 week periods, 17 December 1992 to 31 January 1993, and 17 December 1993 to 31 January 1994. Air pollution and meteorological data were obtained from local monitoring stations. RESULTS: The difference in the proportion of all ED presentations that were due to asthma during the week of the bushfire-generated air pollution, compared with the same week 12 months before, after adjusting for baseline changes over the 12-month period, was 0.0067 (95% CI: -0.0007, 0.0141). The maximum daily nephelometry reading was not a significant predictor of the daily number of asthma presentations to ED in any of the Poisson regression models. CONCLUSIONS: The bushfire-generated particulate air pollution in January 1994 did not result in an increase in asthma presentations to ED in western Sydney.
Authors: R J Delfino; S Brummel; J Wu; H Stern; B Ostro; M Lipsett; A Winer; D H Street; L Zhang; T Tjoa; D L Gillen Journal: Occup Environ Med Date: 2008-11-18 Impact factor: 4.402
Authors: Gennaro D'Amato; Stephen T Holgate; Ruby Pawankar; Dennis K Ledford; Lorenzo Cecchi; Mona Al-Ahmad; Fatma Al-Enezi; Saleh Al-Muhsen; Ignacio Ansotegui; Carlos E Baena-Cagnani; David J Baker; Hasan Bayram; Karl Christian Bergmann; Louis-Philippe Boulet; Jeroen T M Buters; Maria D'Amato; Sofia Dorsano; Jeroen Douwes; Sarah Elise Finlay; Donata Garrasi; Maximiliano Gómez; Tari Haahtela; Rabih Halwani; Youssouf Hassani; Basam Mahboub; Guy Marks; Paola Michelozzi; Marcello Montagni; Carlos Nunes; Jay Jae-Won Oh; Todor A Popov; Jay Portnoy; Erminia Ridolo; Nelson Rosário; Menachem Rottem; Mario Sánchez-Borges; Elopy Sibanda; Juan José Sienra-Monge; Carolina Vitale; Isabella Annesi-Maesano Journal: World Allergy Organ J Date: 2015-07-14 Impact factor: 4.084
Authors: Colleen E Reid; Michael Brauer; Fay H Johnston; Michael Jerrett; John R Balmes; Catherine T Elliott Journal: Environ Health Perspect Date: 2016-04-15 Impact factor: 9.031