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ABSTRACT Health risks associated with short-term exposure to ambient air pollution are communicated to the public by the US EPA through the Air Quality Index (AQI), but it remains unclear
whether the current regulatory-based, single-pollutant AQI fully represents the actual risks of air pollution-related illness. The objective of this study is to quantify cardiovascular
hospital admissions attributable to PM2.5 at each AQI category. Based on National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the highest AQI value among criteria pollutants (driver pollutant) is
reported daily. We investigated excess cardiovascular hospital admissions attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure from 2000 to 2010 in Bronx, Erie, Queens, and Suffolk
counties of New York. Daily total, unscheduled cardiovascular hospital admissions (principal diagnosis) for individuals aged 20–99 years, concentration–response functions for PM2.5, and
estimated quarterly effective daily concentrations were used to calculate excess cardiovascular hospital admissions when PM2.5 was reported as the driver pollutant and when PM2.5 was not
reported as the driver pollutant at each AQI category. A higher proportion of excess hospital admissions attributable to PM2.5 occurred when PM2.5 was the driver pollutant (i.e., ~70% in
Bronx County). The majority of excess hospital admissions (i.e., >90% in Bronx County) occurred when the AQI was <100 (“good” or “moderate” level of health concern) regardless of
whether PM2.5 was the driver pollutant. During the warm season (April–September), greater excess admissions in Suffolk County occurred when PM2.5 was not the AQI driver pollutant. These
results indicate that a single-pollutant index may inadequately communicate the adverse health risks associated with air pollution. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a
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OF AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE FROM 1990 TO 2019 IN 43 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Article Open access 18 November 2021 DISPARITIES IN AIR POLLUTION ATTRIBUTABLE MORTALITY IN THE US POPULATION BY
RACE/ETHNICITY AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Article 01 July 2024 AIR POLLUTION BELOW US REGULATORY STANDARDS AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES USING A DOUBLE NEGATIVE CONTROL APPROACH Article Open
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Quality Health Index in Shanghai, China. _Environ Int_ 2013; 51: 168–173. Article CAS Google Scholar Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful for the assistance of Melissa
Payne. Funding for this study was provided in part by: (1) Air and Waste Management Association Mid-Atlantic States Section Air Pollution Education and Research Grant (APERG); and (2) NIH
Training Grant, Grant Number T32 ES007324. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Environmental Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, New York University,
Tuxedo Park, New York, USA Lars Perlmutt & Kevin Cromar * Population Studies Division, Health Canada, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
David Stieb Authors * Lars Perlmutt View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * David Stieb View author publications You can also search for this
author inPubMed Google Scholar * Kevin Cromar View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Lars Perlmutt.
ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no conflict of interest. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Perlmutt, L., Stieb,
D. & Cromar, K. Accuracy of quantification of risk using a single-pollutant Air Quality Index. _J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol_ 27, 24–32 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.43
Download citation * Received: 18 February 2015 * Revised: 08 May 2015 * Accepted: 03 June 2015 * Published: 15 July 2015 * Issue Date: January 2017 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.43
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to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * Air Quality Index * air pollution * cardiovascular hospital admission * criteria pollutants