Short-term exposure to fine and coarse particles and mortality: A multicity time-series study in East Asia

Few studies on size-specific health effects of particulate matter have been conducted in Asia. We examined the association between both fine and coarse particles (PM2.5 and PM10-2.5) and mortality across 11 East Asian cities from 4 countries (Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China). We performed a two-stage analysis: we generated city-specific estimates using a time-series analysis with a generalized additive model (Quasi-Poisson distribution), and estimated the overall effects by conducting a meta-analysis. Each 10-μg/m(3) increase in PM2.5 (lag01) was associated with an increase of 0.38% (95% confidence interval = 0.21%-0.55%) in all causes mortality, 0.96% (0.46%-1.46%) in cardiovascular mortality, and 1% (0.23%-1.78%) in respiratory mortality. Each 10-μg/m(3) increase in PM10-2.5 (lag01) was associated with cardiovascular mortality (0.69%, [0.05%-1.33%]), although this association attenuated after controlling for other pollutants, especially PM2.5. Increased mortality was associated with increasing PM2.5 and PM10-2.5 concentrations over 11 East Asian cities.