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 (PM 2.5 and PM 10−2.5 ) 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 PM 2.5 (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 PM 10−2.5 (lag01) was associated with cardiovascular mortality (0.69%, [0.05%–1.33%]), although this association attenuated after controlling for other pollutants, especially PM 2.5 . Increased mortality was associated with increasing PM 2.5 and PM 10−2.5 concentrations over 11 East Asian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]