Associations of ground-level ozone, meteorological factors, and weather types with daily myocardial infarction incidence in Augsburg, Germany

Start date: 01/2018
End date: 12/2019
Funded by: Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Elke Hertig

Ozone is a gas that causes irritation of the eyes, mucous membranes and respiratory tract at elevated concentrations in the air. The extent of the symptoms is determined primarily by the duration and intensity of exposure. In addition to acute reactions, long-term effects may occur, such as reduction of the self-cleaning mechanism of the bronchial tubes, damage to lung tissue and development of asthma. In addition, ozone is also associated with cardiological health hazards. These include life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks and heart failure.
 
In this project, the ozone concentrations measured in Augsburg were first characterized. Based on meteorological variables and a weather situation catalog, it was then investigated which specific weather situations and air mass properties (temperature, specific and relative humidity) are responsible for the daily maximum one-hour ozone concentrations. In a further step, correlations between the daily maximum ozone concentrations and the number of daily heart attack cases in the Augsburg region were analyzed. The question was whether a correlation between ozone exposure and the number of heart attacks could be established. The prevailing weather conditions and the local meteorological conditions were also taken into account.

Project responsibility:

Prof. Dr. Elke Hertig, Regional Climate Change and Health, Medical Faculty of the University of Augsburg

Prof. Dr. Jakob Linseisen, Chair of Epidemiology, Medical Faculty of the University of Augsburg

Prof. Dr. Christa Meisinger, Chair of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg

Literature:

Hertig, Elke, Schneider, Alexandra, Peters, Annette, Scheidt, Wolfgang von, Kuch, Bernhard, Meisinger, Christa (2019): Association of ground-level ozone, meteorological factors and weather types with daily myocardial infarction frequencies in Augsburg, Southern Germany. Atmospheric Environment, 217, 116975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.116975

Estimation of the health relevance of ozone and temperature in relation to myocardial infarctions in Augsburg

Start date: 01.06.2021
End date: ongoing
Funding: Faculty of Medicine, funding from the "Equal Opportunities for Women in Research and Teaching" program of the Free State of Bavaria (University of Augsburg)
Project responsibility on site: Sally Jahn,  Prof. Dr. Elke Hertig

In environmental epidemiology, the main research focus is set on the association between specific environmental factors and a variety of health outcomes. The observed adverse human health effects of specific exposures are hence analyzed and quantified. Ground-level ozone (O3) and heat represent two major environmental health stressors that are repeatedly examined in environmental exposure studies. However, exposure to ground-level ozone and air temperature are mostly considered regarding mortality, even though these stressors can lead to a variety of environmentally related diseases. Increased mortality is usually only at the top of the list of possible health effects. This research gap is particularly important with respect to future estimates of morbidity in the context of ongoing and future climatic changes.

The aim of the project is to estimate the health risk of ground-level ozone and heat under recent and future climate conditions by considering a selected environmental disease. Myocardial infarction (MI) represents worldwide a major cause of morbidity and mortality. MI are increasingly suspected to be triggered by exposure to both air temperature and ground-level ozone. The focus of the project is therefore to assess the relevance of both environmental factors on this specific health outcome. The urban area of Augsburg and two adjacent counties represent the regional focus and are used to exemplarily investigate the association between both health stressors and the occurrence of MI. The joint occurrence of daily elevated ozone concentrations and air temperature levels are of particular interest in this context. DLNMs (distributed lag linear and non-linear models) are selected as the main statistical modeling method. In particular, the future MI risk in Augsburg during the 21st century, taking current and future projected climatic changes into account, is assessed.

Project responsibility:

Prof. Dr. Elke Hertig, Chair for Regional Climate Change and Health, Medical Faculty of the University of Augsburg

Sally Jahn, Chair for Regional Climate Change and Health, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Applied Informatics

Prof. Dr. Jakob Linseisen, Chair of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg

Prof. Dr. Christa Meisinger, Chair of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg