Chen, Renjie, Bin Zhou, Haidong Kan, and Bin Zhao. "Associations of Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in 16 Chinese Cities: An Improved Effect Estimate after Accounting for the Indoor Exposure to Particles of Outdoor Origin." 182 (2013): 278-82.
In this paper, the authors developed tools to model daily indoor PM10 concentrations of outdoor origin using a set of exposure parameters. And they calculated the time-weighted average of the simulated indoor PM10 concentration of outdoor origin and the original recorded outdoor PM10 concentrations. They crossed examined the mortality of pm10 in 16 Chinese cities. They concluded that their approach to assess PM10 has doubled the size of effects and increased the statistical assurance of a significant effect of 10.
2.Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project. Renjie Chen: School of Public Health, Fudan University; Bin Zhou: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University; Haidong Kan: School of Public Health, Fudan University; Environment and Health in China: Challenges and Opportunities; Bin Zhao: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University; Air Infiltration Rate Distributions of Residences in Beijing;
3.What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report? The authors developed a new assessment of pm10 incorporating indoor effects. As people stay indoor most of the time, the authors don’t think that outdoor monitoring is an accurate measure of the effect of pm10. Thus they modeled the daily indoor pm10 concentration of outdoor origin using a set of exposure parameters, including the fraction of residences with air conditionings, the fraction of time that windows are closed when cooling occurs for buildings with ac, etc. The result of their simulation shows that a 10 ug/m&3 increase of pm10 was associated with a .3% mortality using the original pm measurements while in this model, the associated mortality rate is .65%. The mortality rate associated with pm10 are twice as high as the median in original study, which means the health effects of pm10 have been greatly overlooked.
4.Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
Data: Statistics are calculated and summarized to show estimated effects of pm10 on daily total mortality. Also their calculation shows that traditional studies of concentration-response relationship has a negative bias.
Comparison: The authors carried out their research in 16 cities across China with varied city-specific parameters settings. But the results show that their model actually fit in different settings.
Stating limitations: The authors also point out challenges faced by their approach which indicate that further investigations are needed. In this way, the reliability of the arguments are increased.
5.What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
“To be concluded, this proposed exposure assessment approach could generally double the size of effects, increase the statistical assurance of a significant effect of PM10, improve the model fit with daily mortality, and attenuate the between-city heterogeneity for the PM10 effect estimates.”
“Similar to previous studies, this multicity studies indicated the acute effects of ambient PM might be considerably underestimated if the indoor fraction of exposure to PM10 of outdoor origin was not accounted for.”
“All indoor exposures were assumed to occur in residences, but actually the levels of indoor exposure in residences might be different than other indoor environments such as the business buildings.”
6.What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Data used to enhance the arguments: The indoor pm10 concentration of outdoor origin was calculated according to the ratios of indoor/outdoor concentration of ambient-originated pm10; time-series analysis is used to estimate the short-term associations of pm10 with daily total mortality rate; Bayesian hierarchical models are used to pool city-specific effect estimates; Monte Carlo method is used to assess uncertainty in the model. To sum up, a lot of descriptive statistics are used to support claims made in the article.
7. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report? This article doesn’t discuss health disparities issues. However, it does mention that pm10 varies in different cities. For instance, Hong Kong, a more developed city in China has lower pm10 concentration level than Lanzhou. Detailed reasons are not analyzed.
8. Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
Database: National Center for Biotechnology Information
Journal: Science Direct; PLoS; Journal of Exposure Science& Environmental Epidemiology.
9. Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced? This article used data existed in other reference and summarized traditional point of view related to pm10. This report collected evidence to argue against those point of views.
10.What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
PM in different seasons: Epidemiological findings concerning the seasonal variation in the acute effect of particulate matter (PM) are inconsistent. Research shows that acute effect of particulate air pollution could vary by seasons with the largest effect in winter and summer in China. --Reference: R, Chen, Peng RD, and Meng X. "Seasonal Variation in the Acute Effect of Particulate Air Pollution on Mortality in the China Air Pollution and Health Effects Study (CAPES)." Science of the Total Environment (2013): 450-51. Print.
Mortality and its association to air pollution: WHO reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died as a result of air pollution exposure. The finding confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk. According to the estimate from WHO, a lot of pre-mature deaths are from low and middle income countries in south east Asia and western pacific region. --Reference: WHO. "7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution." WHO. N.p, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.
Indoor air pollution: Outdoor air enters and leaves a house by: infiltration, natural ventilation, and mechanical ventilation. Through these ways, outdoor pollution can enter a household and cause health damages. Heath effects can by immediate or long-term. –Reference: EPA. "An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)." EPA. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2015. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html.
- Full citation and abstract?
Chen, Renjie, Bin Zhou, Haidong Kan, and Bin Zhao. "Associations of Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in 16 Chinese Cities: An Improved Effect Estimate after Accounting for the Indoor Exposure to Particles of Outdoor Origin." 182 (2013): 278-82.In this paper, the authors developed tools to model daily indoor PM10 concentrations of outdoor origin using a set of exposure parameters. And they calculated the time-weighted average of the simulated indoor PM10 concentration of outdoor origin and the original recorded outdoor PM10 concentrations. They crossed examined the mortality of pm10 in 16 Chinese cities. They concluded that their approach to assess PM10 has doubled the size of effects and increased the statistical assurance of a significant effect of 10.
2. Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
Renjie Chen: School of Public Health, Fudan University;
Bin Zhou: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University;
Haidong Kan: School of Public Health, Fudan University; Environment and Health in China: Challenges and Opportunities;
Bin Zhao: Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University; Air Infiltration Rate Distributions of Residences in Beijing;
3. What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The authors developed a new assessment of pm10 incorporating indoor effects. As people stay indoor most of the time, the authors don’t think that outdoor monitoring is an accurate measure of the effect of pm10. Thus they modeled the daily indoor pm10 concentration of outdoor origin using a set of exposure parameters, including the fraction of residences with air conditionings, the fraction of time that windows are closed when cooling occurs for buildings with ac, etc. The result of their simulation shows that a 10 ug/m&3 increase of pm10 was associated with a .3% mortality using the original pm measurements while in this model, the associated mortality rate is .65%. The mortality rate associated with pm10 are twice as high as the median in original study, which means the health effects of pm10 have been greatly overlooked.
4. Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
5. What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
6. What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Data used to enhance the arguments: The indoor pm10 concentration of outdoor origin was calculated according to the ratios of indoor/outdoor concentration of ambient-originated pm10; time-series analysis is used to estimate the short-term associations of pm10 with daily total mortality rate; Bayesian hierarchical models are used to pool city-specific effect estimates; Monte Carlo method is used to assess uncertainty in the model. To sum up, a lot of descriptive statistics are used to support claims made in the article.
7. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
This article doesn’t discuss health disparities issues. However, it does mention that pm10 varies in different cities. For instance, Hong Kong, a more developed city in China has lower pm10 concentration level than Lanzhou. Detailed reasons are not analyzed.
8. Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
Database: National Center for Biotechnology Information
Journal: Science Direct; PLoS; Journal of Exposure Science& Environmental Epidemiology.
9. Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
This article used data existed in other reference and summarized traditional point of view related to pm10. This report collected evidence to argue against those point of views.
10. What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?