ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the acute effects of NO2 on children's respiratory hospitalization risk in Foshan City. Methods The daily average concentrations of six air pollutants such as NO2 and fine particulate matter, and meteorological data including average temperature and relative humidity in Foshan were collected from 2016 to 2019. Data on the daily number of children newly hospitalized for respiratory diseases (ECRH) in Foshan Women and Children Hospital were retrieved. Time series analysis was used to quantitatively evaluate the effect of daily NO2 concentration on the hospitalization risk of children with respiratory diseases. Results From 2016 to 2019, the average ECRH in the hospital was 10. The daily average concentrations of air pollutants NO2, PM2.5, PM10, and SO2 were 42.0 μg/m3, 35.3 μg/m3, 58.1 μg/m3, and 11.4 μg/m3, respectively. The air pressure, daily average temperature and relative humidity of atmosphere were 1008.4 Pa, 23.7℃ and 73.3%, respectively. ECRH was significantly correlated with the daily average concentration of NO2 (r=0.079, P3 increase of NO2 concentration in the single pollutant model, the excess risk of ECHR in the hospital increased by 1.22% (95% CI: 0.06%, 2.40%) and 1.37% (95% CI: 0.23%, 2.53%) in lag0 and Lag1 day, respectively. The strongest effect appeared in lag0:7 with the excess risk increasing by 1.70% (95% CI:0.12%, 3.31%). In the NO2 + SO2 + CO + O3_8h + PM2.5 and NO2 + SO2 + CO + O3_8h + PM10 multi-pollutant models, significance correlation still existed between the daily average NO2 concentration and ECHR in lag0, lag1 and lag0:1 to lag0:7. The strongest effect appeared in lag0:1, and the excess risks were 4.06% (95% CI: 1.83%, 6.34%) and 3.95% (95% CI: 1.85%, 6.09%), respectively. Dose-response relationship analysis showed a linear relationship between the daily average NO2 concentration and ECHR, and the excess risk of new hospitalization gradually increased with the increase of daily average NO2 concentration. Conclusion There was a significant correlation between NO2 concentration and hospitalization risk of children with respiratory diseases in Foshan City, which suggests that the government should further strengthen the prevention and control of air pollution.