Data on short-term effect of nitrogen dioxide on cardiovascular health in Wallonia, Belgium

Data presented in this article are related to the research paper entitled "Short-term effects of nitrogen dioxide on hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease in Wallonia, Belgium." (Collart et al., in press) [1]. Nitrogen dioxide concentrations showed a strong seasonal pattern with higher levels in the cold period than in the warm period. A minimum of 13.1 µg/m³ in July and a maximum of 26.9 µg/m³ in January were observed. The coldest months are December, January and February and the hottest months are June, July and August. Temperature and nitrogen dioxide were negatively correlated in the cold period and positively correlated in the warm period. For the period 2008-2011 there were 113 147 hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease. Forty-five percent of patients were women and 66.5% were 65 and older. Heart rhythm disorders account for the majority of hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease. Our data confirms the existence of an association between NO₂ and cardiovascular disease. Apart from haemorrhagic stroke, the strongest association between NO₂ concentrations and number of hospital admissions is observed at lag 0. For haemorrhagic stroke, the association is strongest with a delay of 2 days. All associations calculated without stratification are statistically significant and range from an excess relative risk of 2.8% for myocardial infarction to 4.9% for haemorrhagic strokes.