Correlation between air pollution and postneonatal mortality in a subtropical city: Taipei, Taiwan

With growing evidence of the association between daily mortality and air pollution exposure in adults, it is important to investigate whether infants are also susceptible. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between air pollution exposure and postneonatal, defined as infant of more than 27 d and less than 1 yr old, mortality in Taipei, Taiwan's largest city, which has a subtropical climate, for the period 1994-2000, using a case-crossover analysis. This design is an alternative to Poisson time-series regression for studying the short-term adverse health effects of air pollution. The air pollutants examined included particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO). The risk of postneonatal deaths was estimated to increase by 3.1% for PM10, 4.1% for SO2, 1.7% for NO2, 3.8% for CO, and 0.1% for O3 for each interquartile range change, respectively. However, the associations were without statistical significance. The established link between air pollution levels and infant mortality may not be as strong in cities with subtropical climates, although other factors such as differences in pollutant component composition or the underlying health of the postneonates may explain the lack of a strong association in this study. Further studies of this type in cities with varying climates and cultures are needed.