Lane Tyler J, Carroll Matthew, Borg Brigitte M, McCaffrey Tracy A, Smith Catherine L, Gao Caroline X, Brown David, Johnson Amanda, Poland David, Allgood Shantelle, Ikin Jillian, Abramson Michael J
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Monash Rural Health Churchill, Monash University, Churchill, VIC, Australia.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Jan 22;5(1):e0004186. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004186. eCollection 2025.
The aim of this study was to determine whether the effects of extreme but discrete PM2.5 exposure from a coal mine fire on respiratory symptoms abated, persisted, or worsened over time, and whether they were exacerbated by COVID-19. We analysed longitudinal survey data from a cohort residing near a 2014 coalmine fire in regional Australia. A 2016/2017 survey included 4,056 participants, of whom 612 were followed-up in 2022. Items included respiratory symptoms, history of COVID-19, and time-location diaries from the mine fire period, which were combined with geospatial and temporal models of fire-related PM2.5. Longitudinal effects of fire-related PM2.5 were examined using a mixed-effects logistic regression model. Exacerbation due to COVID-19 was examined using a logistic regression model. PM2.5 exposure was associated with chronic cough and possibly current wheeze, chest tightness, and current nasal symptoms 2-3 years post-fire, and chronic cough and current wheeze 8.5-9 years post-fire. Further, the association between PM2.5 and chronic cough and possibly current wheeze appeared to increase between the survey periods. While there were no detectable interactions between PM2.5 and COVID-19, PM2.5 exposure was associated with additional respiratory symptoms among participants who reported a history of COVID-19. In summary, medium-duration exposure to extreme levels of fire-related PM2.5 may have increased the long-term risk of chronic cough and current wheeze. While the COVID-19 pandemic started several years after the mine fire, contracting this illness may have exacerbated the effect of fire-related PM2.5 through development of additional respiratory symptoms.
本研究的目的是确定煤矿火灾导致的极端但离散的细颗粒物（PM2.5）暴露对呼吸道症状的影响是否会随着时间的推移而减轻、持续或恶化，以及这些影响是否会因2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）而加剧。我们分析了澳大利亚地区一个居住队列的纵向调查数据，该队列居住在2014年发生煤矿火灾的附近地区。2016/2017年的调查包括4056名参与者，其中612人在2022年接受了随访。调查项目包括呼吸道症状、COVID-19病史以及煤矿火灾期间的时间-地点日记，并将这些与火灾相关的PM2.5的地理空间和时间模型相结合。使用混合效应逻辑回归模型研究火灾相关PM2.5的纵向影响。使用逻辑回归模型研究COVID-19导致的症状加重情况。PM2.5暴露与火灾后2至3年的慢性咳嗽以及可能的当前喘息、胸闷和当前鼻部症状有关，与火灾后8.5至9年的慢性咳嗽和当前喘息有关。此外，在不同调查期间，PM2.5与慢性咳嗽以及可能的当前喘息之间的关联似乎有所增加。虽然PM2.5与COVID-19之间没有可检测到的相互作用，但在报告有COVID-19病史的参与者中，PM2.5暴露与额外的呼吸道症状有关。总之，中等时长暴露于极端水平的火灾相关PM2.5可能增加了慢性咳嗽和当前喘息的长期风险。虽然COVID-19大流行在煤矿火灾发生几年后才开始，但感染这种疾病可能通过引发额外的呼吸道症状而加剧了火灾相关PM2.5的影响。
