Impact of Nitrogen Dioxide on Health with Particular Emphasis on Vulnerable Groups
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2023Access:
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Ó Domhnaill, A. O'Mahony, M., Broderick, B., Hennessy, M., Donnelly, A., Naughton, O., Hurley, E., Carthy, P., Nolan, A., Moriarty, F. and Lyons, S., Impact of Nitrogen Dioxide on Health with Particular Emphasis on Vulnerable Groups, Environmental Protection Agency, 2023, 1 - 48Download Item:
Abstract:
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a highly reactive gas and
is primarily produced by the burning of fuel. It forms
from emissions from cars, trucks and buses and power
plants. Exposure to NO2 has been associated with
adverse effects on hospital admissions for various
diagnoses; decrements in measures of lung function;
increases in respiratory symptoms, asthma incidence,
adverse birth outcomes and mortality. In terms of
outdoor ambient air quality, the main source of NO2 in
Ireland is road transport.
The objectives of the project were as follows:
1. Use currently available air pollution
measurements, and recent research results on the
influence of meteorological and source parameters
(including transport vehicle characteristics and
population mobility demands), to identify a set of
characteristics for the locations in Ireland that are
at most risk of experiencing high levels of NO2.
2. Use the Health Service Executive Primary Care
Reimbursement Service (HSE-PCRS) prescribing
database to establish baseline data linking NO2
levels with the prescription of drugs used to treat
asthma and chronic obstructive airways disease.
3. Explore the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) and
the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)
databases to investigate if relationships between
the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in
vulnerable groups and NO2 levels exist, within
database constraints (TILDA, 2018).
4. Review policies and strategies being implemented
by other countries to bring NO2 within compliance
levels and identify a set of effective and efficient
solutions to reduce and mitigate the impact of the
transport sector on NO2 levels in Ireland, given
this sector’s predominance in the output of NO2
emissions (EPA, 2019).
To deliver on the project’s objectives, a range of
different models and methods were required. In
the case of objectives 1 and 4, an existing land
use regression model was enhanced to include
data describing the national distribution of vehicle characteristics, including vehicle fleet breakdown, Euro
classifications and fuel types.
To meet the requirements of objective 2, HSE-PCRS
and NO2 data were used to link NO2 levels with the
prescription of drugs used to treat asthma and chronic
obstructive airways disease. Objective 3 involved the
exploration of existing health databases to investigate
if relationships between the prevalence of respiratory
symptoms in vulnerable groups and NO2 levels exist,
within database constraints. Relevant data from the
TILDA database were used with modelled levels of
NO2 to investigate the links between NO2 and asthma
prevalence.
The findings from the HSE-PCRS prescribing rate
analysis suggest that, for most of the outcomes
investigated, there was no association between the
levels of NO2 and the prescribing rates. Although the
focus of the project was on NO2, the team had the
opportunity to consider particulate matter consisting
of particles with diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5),
in addition to NO2. PM2.5 can cause serious health
problems. In most regions, there was an association
between PM2.5 and the prescribing rate, taking
account of the impact of winter on dispensing.
This was most pronounced with oral steroids and
especially in the subgroup analyses undertaken in the
0–4 years age group.
The results from the TILDA analysis suggest that a
1 part per billion (ppb) increase in NO2 concentration
is associated with a 0.24 percentage point increase
in the probability of reporting an asthma diagnosis for
those exposed to levels of < 13.1 ppb. In addition, a
1 ppb increase in NO2 concentration was associated
with a 0.26 percentage point increase in the probability
of requiring medication for asthma. The magnitude of
association is large for both models.
The enhanced wind sector land use regression model
was successfully employed to assess the impact
of a number of mitigation strategies on NO2 levels:
(1) relocating businesses from a congested area with
significant air pollution; (2) replacing diesel vehicles
with electric vehicles in the public service vehicle leet; (3) introducing a low-emission zone (LEZ) in
Dublin; and (4) introducing a city bypass/ring road.
In absolute concentration reduction terms, none of
the investigated strategies was indicated as being
more successful than the others, with maximum
improvements in annual average NO2 concentrations
of approximately 2 μg/m3 being predicted in each case.
Greater reductions in concentration could be achieved
by implementing multiple strategies together.
Sponsor
Grant Number
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
2016-CCRP-MS-42
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/mmmahonyhttp://people.tcd.ie/bbrodrck
http://people.tcd.ie/mhenness
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PUBLISHEDSponsor:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Publisher:
Environmental Protection AgencyType of material:
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Full text availableSubject (TCD):
Smart & Sustainable Planet , ASTHMA , Air pollution monitoring and assessment , TransportISSN:
978-1-80009-137-5Metadata
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