Short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide pollution and the risk of eye and adnexa diseases in Xinxiang, China

摘要

Air pollution is one of the most serious environmental crises globally. As concentrations of pollutants increase, respiratory illness and cardiovascular ailments become more prevalent. Few studies have analyzed the correlations between ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution and eye and adnexa diseases (EADs). We investigated the short-term association between NO2 and outpatients with EADs in Xinxiang, China. Daily NO2 concentrations, meteorological and outpatients' data from 2015 to 2017 were analyzed using an over-dispersed generalized additive model. Several potential confounding factors including time trend, weather conditions, day of week, and holidays were controlled for. A total of 78384 cases of EADs outpatients were identified. Significant association was observed between NO2 and EADs outpatients. A 10 mu g/m(3) increase of NO2 in the current day correspond to a 1.15% (95% CI: 0.21%-2.09%) increment in daily outpatients with EADs. Furthermore, the association between NO2 and keratitis outpatients was the strongest with an estimates of 2.67% (95% CI: 1.24%-4.11%). This research confirmed the association between NO2 and EADs outpatients in Xinxiang, China. Our research highlight the importance of stricter environmental policies by the Chinese government to reduce the emission of air pollutants and to protect the health of citizens.