Chronic and Infectious Respiratory Mortality and Short-Term Exposures to Four Types of Pollen Taxa in Older Adults in Michigan, 2006–2017

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baptist AP ; Gronlund CJ ; Larson PS ; O'Neill MS ; Steiner AL
• Description:
  Introduction: Levels of plant-based aeroallergens are rising as growing seasons lengthen and intensify with anthropogenic climate change. Increased exposure to pollens could increase risk for mortality from respiratory causes, particularly among older adults. We determined short-term, lag associations of four species classes of pollen (ragweed, deciduous trees, grass pollen and evergreen trees) with respiratory mortality (all cause, chronic and infectious related) in Michigan, USA. Methods: We obtained records for all Michigan deaths from 2006-2017 from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). Deaths from infectious and chronic respiratory-related causes were selected using International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes. Pollen data were obtained from a prognostic model of daily pollen concentrations at 25 km resolution. Case-crossover models with distributed lag non-linear crossbases for pollen were used to estimate associations between lags of daily pollen concentrations with mortality and to explore effect modification by sex and racial groups. Results: 127,163 deaths were included in the study. Cumulative daily high concentrations (90th percentile) of deciduous broadleaf, grass and ragweed were associated with all-cause respiratory mortality at early lags with e.g., a 1.81 times higher risk of all respiratory deaths at cumulative 7 day lag exposure to deciduous broadleaf pollen at the 90th percentile (95% confidence interval: 1.04, 3.15). Exposure to high concentrations of grass and ragweed pollens was associated with increased risk for death from chronic respiratory causes. No association was found for any pollen species with death from infectious respiratory causes though there was a positive but non-significant association of exposure to deciduous broadleaf and ragweed pollens. We found no evidence to suggest effect modification by race or sex. Conclusions: Modelled exposures to high concentrations of pollen taxa were associated with increased all-cause and chronic respiratory mortality among older adults. Results suggest that pollen exposure may become more important to respiratory mortality as the temperatures increase and pollen seasons lengthen. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Hot Temperature Hypersensitivity Mortality Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Allergens Author Keywords: Environmental Health Environmental Health Hot Environments Mortality Rates Plants Pollen Respiratory Health Respiratory Mortality
• ISSN:
  1471-2458
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Michigan
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  25
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070460
• Citation:
  BMC Public Health 2025 Jan; 25:173
• Contact Point Address:
  Peter S. Larson, Social Environment and Health Program, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI
• Email:
  anfangen@umich.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  BMC Public Health
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:09d18c3764ba798e4048bab40ca7f9adad1cbdb17e1d0dd2454ca43b64f3837204de9eac7a516d0f73b9e670b92039fff35ef44c2b21c02987b4c6340fe9e81c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208663/cdc_208663_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.41 MB ]