Moon Jinyoung
Department of Environmental Health Science, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Ann Occup Environ Med. 2020 Dec 2;32:e38. doi: 10.35371/aoem.2020.32.e38. eCollection 2020.
Combined heat and power generation (CHP generation, also called 'cogeneration') is attracting public attention for its high thermal efficiency, without considering possible adverse environmental health effects.This study investigated the potential role of cogeneration plants in inducing 3 environmental diseases: asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis.
From 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017, the towns (dongs) of South Korea in which a cogeneration plant started operation were selected as study sites. For comparison, a matched control dong with the most similar Gross Regional Domestic Product for each case dong was selected. The numbers of outpatient visits, inpatient admissions, and emergency visits provided by the National Health Insurance Sharing Service (NHISS) were analyzed using an interrupted time-series design. For air pollutants, the concentrations of 5 air pollutants from the AIRKOREA dataset were used.
A total of 6 cogeneration plants in 6 case dongs started operation during the study period. For overall case dongs, the pre-CHP trend was 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.038-1.042), and the post-CHP trend was 1.248 (95% CI: 1.244-1.253). The intercept change due to the CHP plant was 1.15 (95% CI: 1.137-1.162). For overall control dongs, the pre-CHP trend was 1.133 (95% CI: 1.132-1.135), and the post-CHP trend was 1.065 (95% CI: 1.06-1.069). The intercept change due to the CHP plant was 0.888 (95% CI: 0.878-0.899). Only for CO and NO, the relative risk (RR) for overall case dongs was statistically significantly increased, and the RR for the overall control dongs was statistically insignificant.
Possible hazardous emissions, like CO and NO from cogeneration plants could induce environmental diseases in nearby community populations. The emissions from cogeneration plants should be investigated regularly by a governmental agency, and the long-term health outcomes of nearby community residents should be investigated.
热电联产发电（CHP发电，也称为“热电联产”）因其高热效率而备受公众关注，却未考虑到可能对环境健康产生的不利影响。本研究调查了热电联产电厂在引发三种环境疾病（哮喘、过敏性鼻炎和特应性皮炎）方面的潜在作用。
选取2013年1月1日至2017年12月31日期间韩国有热电联产电厂开始运营的城镇（洞）作为研究地点。为作比较，为每个病例洞选取了地区生产总值最相近的匹配对照洞。使用中断时间序列设计分析了国民健康保险共享服务（NHISS）提供的门诊就诊、住院入院和急诊就诊数量。对于空气污染物，使用了来自韩国空气质量数据集的5种空气污染物浓度。
在研究期间，6个病例洞中的6座热电联产电厂开始运营。对于总体病例洞，热电联产前的趋势为1.04（95%置信区间[CI]：1.038 - 1.042），热电联产后的趋势为1.248（95%CI：1.244 - 1.253）。热电联产电厂导致的截距变化为1.15（95%CI：1.137 - 1.162）。对于总体对照洞，热电联产前的趋势为1.133（95%CI：1.132 - 1.135），热电联产后的趋势为1.065（95%CI：1.06 - 1.069）。热电联产电厂导致的截距变化为0.888（95%CI：0.878 - 0.899）。仅对于一氧化碳和一氧化氮，总体病例洞的相对风险（RR）在统计学上显著增加，而总体对照洞的RR在统计学上不显著。
热电联产电厂排放的一氧化碳和一氧化氮等可能有害的污染物可能在附近社区人群中引发环境疾病。政府机构应定期调查热电联产电厂的排放情况，并调查附近社区居民的长期健康状况。
