Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Anesthesiology, School of Anesthesiology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 9;11:1137933. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1137933. eCollection 2023.
The adverse effects of 2.5-μm particulate matter (PM) exposure on public health have become an increasing concern worldwide. However, epidemiological findings on the effects of PM-bound metals on children's respiratory health are limited and inconsistent because PM is a complicated mixture.
Given the vulnerability of children's respiratory system, aim to pediatric respiratory health, this study evaluated the potential sources, health risks, and acute health effects of ambient PM-bound metals among children in Guangzhou, China from January 2017 to December 2019.
Potential sources of PM-bound metals were detected using positive matrix factorization (PMF). A health risk assessment was conducted to investigate the inhalation risk of PM-bound metals in children. The associations between PM-bound metals and pediatric respiratory outpatient visits were examined with a quasi-Poisson generalized additive model (GAM).
During 2017-2019, the daily mean concentrations of PM was 53.39 μg/m, and the daily mean concentrations of PM-bound metals range 0.03 ng/m [thorium (Th) and beryllium (Be)] from to 396.40 ng/m [iron (Fe)]. PM-bound metals were mainly contributed by motor vehicles and street dust. PM-bound arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr)(VI), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) were found to pose a carcinogenic risk (CR). A quasi-Poisson GAM was constructed that showed there were significant associations between PM concentrations and pediatric outpatient visits for respiratory diseases. PM was significantly associated with pediatric outpatient visits for respiratory diseases. Moreover, with a 10 μg/m increase in Ni, Cr(VI), Ni, and As concentrations, the corresponding pediatric outpatient visits for respiratory diseases increased by 2.89% (95% : 2.28-3.50%), acute upper respiratory infections (AURIs) increased by 2.74% (2.13-3.35%), influenza and pneumonia (FLU&PN) increased by 23.36% (20.09-26.72%), and acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) increased by 16.86% (15.16-18.60%), respectively.
Our findings showed that PM and PM-bound As, Cd, Co, Cr(VI), Ni, and Pb had adverse effects on pediatric respiratory health during the study period. New strategies are required to decrease the production of PM and PM-bound metals by motor vehicles and to reduce levels of street dust to reduce children's exposure to these pollutants and thereby increase child health.
2.5 微米颗粒物（PM）暴露对公众健康的不良影响已成为全球日益关注的问题。 然而，由于 PM 是一种复杂的混合物，有关 PM 结合金属对儿童呼吸健康影响的流行病学研究结果有限且不一致。
鉴于儿童呼吸系统的脆弱性，本研究旨在评估儿童的呼吸健康，从 2017 年 1 月至 2019 年 12 月，评估中国广州大气 PM 结合金属对儿童的潜在来源、健康风险和急性健康影响。
采用正矩阵因子分解（PMF）检测 PM 结合金属的潜在来源。进行健康风险评估以调查儿童吸入 PM 结合金属的风险。使用准泊松广义加性模型（GAM）检验 PM 结合金属与儿科呼吸门诊就诊之间的关联。
2017-2019 年，每日平均 PM 浓度为 53.39 μg/m，每日平均 PM 结合金属浓度范围为 0.03 ng/m [钍（Th）和铍（Be）]至 396.40 ng/m [铁（Fe）]。PM 结合金属主要来自机动车和街道灰尘。发现 PM 结合的砷（As）、镉（Cd）、钴（Co）、铬（Cr）（VI）、镍（Ni）和铅（Pb）具有致癌风险（CR）。构建了准泊松 GAM，表明 PM 浓度与儿科呼吸道疾病门诊就诊之间存在显著关联。PM 与儿科呼吸道疾病门诊就诊显著相关。此外，随着 Ni、Cr（VI）、Ni 和 As 浓度增加 10μg/m，相应的儿科呼吸道疾病门诊就诊增加 2.89%（95%置信区间：2.28-3.50%），急性上呼吸道感染（AURI）增加 2.74%（2.13-3.35%），流感和肺炎（FLU&PN）增加 23.36%（20.09-26.72%），急性下呼吸道感染（ALRI）增加 16.86%（15.16-18.60%）。
我们的研究结果表明，PM 以及 PM 结合的 As、Cd、Co、Cr（VI）、Ni 和 Pb 在研究期间对儿童的呼吸健康有不良影响。需要采取新的策略来减少机动车产生的 PM 和 PM 结合金属，并减少街道灰尘的含量，以减少儿童接触这些污染物的机会，从而提高儿童的健康水平。
