Short-term effects of PM10 from Saharan dust on mortality in Southern Europe - Results of the MED-PARTICLES Project

Background. Enhanced short-term effects of particulate matter (PM) on mortality during desert dust outbreaks have been shown, with controversial results. Aim.To estimate the short-term effects of PM from Saharan dust on mortality in multiple Euro-Mediterranean cities, within the MED-PARTICLES project. Methods. Daily counts of cause-specific deaths were collected for 12 cities from Italy, Spain, Greece and France within 2001-2010. Data were available on daily mean concentrations of PM10 (PM<10 µm), PM2.5 (<2.5µm), PM2.5-10 (PM between 2.5 and 10 µm). Saharan dust episodes were identified using satellite data, operational models and back-trajectories. Daily PM10 concentrations attributable to Sahara were estimated from PM10 observations monitored at rural stations. PM10 from local sources was derived as the difference between total and Saharan PM10. City-specific Poisson regression models were fit, followed by random-effects meta-analysis. Results.The frequency of Saharan dust days ranged between 33% in Sou...