High Ambient Temperatures and Risk of Motor Vehicle Crashes in Catalonia, Spain (2000-2011): A Time-Series Analysis.

Background: Experimental studies have shown a decrease in driving performance at high temperatures. The epidemiological evidence for the relationship between heat and motor vehicle crashes is not consistent.

Objectives: We estimated the impact of high ambient temperatures on the daily number of motor vehicle crashes and, in particular, on crashes involving driver performance factors (namely distractions, driver error, fatigue, or sleepiness).

Differences on the effect of heat waves on mortality by sociodemographic and urban landscape characteristics.

Background: Mortality increases during heat waves have been reported worldwide. The magnitude of these increases can vary within regions according to sociodemographic and urban landscape characteristics. The objectives of this study were to explore this variation and its determinants, and to identify the most heat-vulnerable areas by mapping heat vulnerability.

Heat waves and cause-specific mortality at all ages.

Background: Mortality has been shown to increase with extremely hot ambient temperatures. Details on the specific cause of mortality can be useful for improving preventive policies. Infants are often identified as a population that is vulnerable to extreme heat conditions; however, information on heat and infant mortality is scarce, with no studies reporting on cause-specific mortality.

Monitoring of heavy metal concentrations in home outdoor air using moss bags.

One monitoring station is insufficient to characterize the high spatial variation of traffic-related heavy metals within cities. We tested moss bags (Hylocomium splendens), deployed in a dense network, for the monitoring of metals in outdoor air and characterized metals' long-term spatial distribution and its determinants in Girona, Spain. Mosses were exposed outside 23 homes for two months; NO₂ was monitored for comparison.

Local determinants of road traffic noise levels versus determinants of air pollution levels in a Mediterranean city.

Background: Both traffic-related noise and air pollution have been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Spatial correlations between these environmental stressors may entail mutual confounding in epidemiological studies investigating their long-term effects. Few studies have investigated their correlation - none in Spain - and results differ among cities.

Effect of PM(10) and O(3) on infant mortality among residents in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area: a case-crossover analysis, 1997-2005.

Introduction: Consistent evidence has shown a positive association between air pollution and daily mortality among adults. Less is known about its effect on infant mortality and the modification of this association by socioeconomic status (SES).

Objective: To assess the association of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤10μm (PM(10)) and ozone (O(3)) on infant mortality and its modification by SES.

The impact of heat waves on mortality in 9 European cities: results from the EuroHEAT project.

Background: The present study aimed at developing a standardized heat wave definition to estimate and compare the impact on mortality by gender, age and death causes in Europe during summers 1990-2004 and 2003, separately, accounting for heat wave duration and intensity.

Methods: Heat waves were defined considering both maximum apparent temperature and minimum temperature and classified by intensity, duration and timing during summer. The effect was estimated as percent increase in daily mortality during heat wave days compared to non heat wave days in people over 65 years.

Size fractionate particulate matter, vehicle traffic, and case-specific daily mortality in Barcelona, Spain.

Recent epidemiological research suggests that short-term effects of particle matter (PM) in urban areas may preferentially be driven by fine fractions. Questions remain concerning the adversehealth effects of coarse particles generated by noncombustion, traffic-related processes and the mechanism of action of PM. Using a time-stratified case-crossover design, we investigated the association between three independent size fractions, coarse (PM10-2.

Climate change and respiratory disease: European Respiratory Society position statement.

Climate change will affect individuals with pre-existing respiratory disease, but the extent of the effect remains unclear. The present position statement was developed on behalf of the European Respiratory Society in order to identify areas of concern arising from climate change for individuals with respiratory disease, healthcare workers in the respiratory sector and policy makers. The statement was developed following a 2-day workshop held in Leuven (Belgium) in March 2008.

Who is more vulnerable to die from ozone air pollution?

Background: Daily increases in ambient ozone have been associated with increased mortality. However, little is known about which subpopulations are more susceptible to death related to ozone.

Methods: We conducted a case-only study in 48 US cities to identify subpopulations particularly vulnerable to ozone air pollution.

Residential exposure to traffic-related air pollution and survival after heart failure.

Background: Although patients with heart failure (HF) have been identified as particularly susceptible to the acute effects of air pollution, the effects of long-term exposure to air pollution on patients with this increasingly prevalent disease are largely unknown.

Objective: This study was designed to examine the mortality risk associated with residential exposure to traffic-related air pollution among HF patients.

Methods: A total of 1,389 patients hospitalized with acute HF in greater Worcester, Massachusetts, during 2000 were followed for survival through December 2005.

Temperature, temperature extremes, and mortality: a study of acclimatisation and effect modification in 50 US cities.

Objectives: The authors examined the increase in mortality associated with hot and cold temperature in different locations, the determinants of the variability in effect estimates, and its implications for adaptation.

Methods: The authors conducted a case-crossover study in 50 US cities. They used daily mortality and weather data for 6 513 330 deaths occurring during 1989-2000.

Extreme temperatures and mortality: assessing effect modification by personal characteristics and specific cause of death in a multi-city case-only analysis.

Background: Extremes of temperature are associated with short-term increases in daily mortality.

Objectives: We set out to identify subpopulations and mortality causes with increased susceptibility to temperature extremes.

Methods: We conducted a case-only analysis using daily mortality and hourly weather data from 50 U.

Short-term respiratory effects of cleaning exposures in female domestic cleaners.

Symptoms of obstructive lung disease in domestic cleaners have been related to the use of bleach and other irritant cleaning products. The short-term effects of cleaning exposures on respiratory symptoms and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were investigated in domestic cleaners with respiratory disorders. In a panel study, 43 female domestic cleaners with a recent history of asthma and/or chronic bronchitis completed a 2-week diary, collecting information on respiratory symptoms, PEF and cleaning exposures.

The effect of ozone and PM10 on hospital admissions for pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a national multicity study.

A case-crossover study was conducted in 36 US cities to evaluate the effect of ozone and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of < or =10 microm (PM10) on respiratory hospital admissions and to identify which city characteristics may explain the heterogeneity in risk estimates. Respiratory hospital admissions and air pollution data were obtained for 1986-1999. In a meta-analysis based on the city-specific regression models, several city characteristics were evaluated as effect modifiers.

Asthma, chronic bronchitis, and exposure to irritant agents in occupational domestic cleaning: a nested case-control study.

Background: Women employed in domestic cleaning are at increased risk for symptoms of obstructive lung disease, but the agents responsible are unknown.

Aims: To investigate common tasks and products in occupational domestic cleaning in relation to respiratory morbidity.

Methods: Case-control study in domestic cleaning women nested within a large population based survey of women aged 30-65 years; 160 domestic cleaning women with asthma symptoms, chronic bronchitis symptoms, or both and 386 without a history of respiratory symptoms were identified.

Asthma symptoms in women employed in domestic cleaning: a community based study.

Background: Epidemiological studies have shown an association between cleaning work and asthma, but the risk factors are uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of asthma in women employed in domestic cleaning.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in 4521 women aged 30 to 65 years.