Effect of Air Pollution on Hospital Admissions of Respiratory, Dermatological, Ophthalmic Diseases in a Coastal City, China

Recent studies have shown associations between particulate matter and respiratory diseases for children in some heavy air pollution areas in China. However, few investigations have focused on the potential effects of chronic exposure to lowmoderate levels on health symptoms among children. In this study, the effect of air quality on pediatric hospital admissions for respiratory disease, dermatological illness and ophthalmic diseases in Zhoushan were characterized by data from different lag structures, single-pollutant models and multi-pollutant models (Generalized additive model, GAM). Under lag0, a 36 μ g/m3 increased in PM10 and a 5 μ g/m3 increased in SO2 with associated with a 1.050% risk increased (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.037 to 1.064) and with a 1.030% increased (95% CI 1.016 to 1.044) in respiratory hospitalization, respectively. A positive association between SO2 with the increased risk of dermatological hospitalization was found: 1.139% (95% CI 0.977 to 1.328) at lag2. A detrimental effect was found at lag0 of ophthalmic illness with ambient air pollution. Seasonal differences were found for air pollution for pediatric respiratory and dermatology. This study indicates that air pollution has an impact on pediatric health, even in a high air quality area, we should control the concentrations strictly to prevent environmental health problem.