%0 Journal Article
%T Elemental concentrations of ambient particles and cause specific mortality in Santiago, Chile: a time series study
%A Ana Vald¨¦s
%A Antonella Zanobetti
%A Jaana I Halonen
%A Luis Cifuentes
%A Diego Morata
%A Joel Schwartz
%J Environmental Health
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-069x-11-82
%X Air pollution was collected in a residential area in the center of Santiago. Daily mortality counts were obtained from the National Institute of Statistic. The associations between PM2.5 and cause-specific mortality were studied by time series analysis controlling for time trends, day of the week, temperature and relative humidity. We then included an interaction term between PM2.5 and the monthly averages of the mean ratios of individual elements to PM2.5 mass.We found significant effects of PM2.5 on all the causes analyzed, with a 1.33% increase (95% CI: 0.87-1.78) in cardiovascular mortality per 10¦Ìg/m3 increase in the two days average of PM2.5. We found that zinc was associated with higher cardiovascular mortality. Particles with high content of chromium, copper and sulfur showed stronger associations with respiratory and COPD mortality, while high zinc and sodium content of PM2.5 amplified the association with cerebrovascular disease.Our findings suggest that PM2.5 with high zinc, chromium, copper, sodium, and sulfur content have stronger associations with mortality than PM2.5 mass alone in Santiago, Chile. The sources of particles containing these elements need to be determined to better control their emissions.Particulate air pollution is a main environmental risk factor for human health, and short-term associations between mortality and particulate pollutants are well established [1-3]. Many studies have suggested that the magnitude of the association between mortality and particles differs by particle size, with fine particles (particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5¦Ìm, PM2.5) having greater effects than larger particles (diameter between 2.5-10¦Ìm, coarse particles) [4,5]. Regional and seasonal differences in the health effects of particles have also been reported [6-8]. Composition of particles also varies by season, suggesting this may play a role in the toxicity of particles. Due to the lack of data on particulate composition, the health effect
%K Air pollution
%K Mortality
%K PM2.5
%K Elements
%U http://www.ehjournal.net/content/11/1/82