Acute effects of particulate matter with different sizes on respiratory mortality in Shenzhen, China.

There are relatively few studies that focus on the health effects of exposure to size-specific particles on respiratory mortality in China. We aimed to examine the association between different particle sizes and mortality from cause-specific respiratory diseases. We used a time series model with a quasi-Poisson link to investigate the relationship between different particle sizes and mortality from respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), pneumonia, and asthma in Shenzhen during 2014-2017. A total of 3716 mortalities due to respiratory diseases were collected. Both PM1 and PM2.5 were associated with mortality of overall respiratory diseases, COPD, and pneumonia. An interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM1 at lag03 was associated with a 12.21% (95% CI: 2.59%, 22.75%) increase in respiratory mortality, and each IQR increase in PM2.5 at lag03 corresponded to a 12.09% (95% CI: 2.52%, 22.56%) increase in respiratory mortality. PM1-2.5 was not associated with mortality from all-cause or cause-specific respiratory diseases. This study suggests that both PM1 and PM2.5 may increase the risk of mortality due to respiratory diseases in Shenzhen, China.