Health impact of improved air quality during the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, China

• Applicants: Dr. Ulrich Franck, since 6/2014; Professor Dr. Heinz-Erich Wichmann; Professor Dr. Alfred Wiedensohler
• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: from 2009 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 133651908

Particulate matter air pollution has been consistently associated with daily mortality and morbidity around the world. Additionally, some newer findings suggest that ultrafine particles (particles < 0.1 μm) may be of special importance for human health.The study proposed here will assess the impacts of air quality regulations in Beijing implemented for the 2008 Olympic Games, but also of potential long-term improvements in air hygiene. In particular, the association of size fractioned particle data with daily mortality and emergency room visit data will be investigated.The exposure assessment will be based on particle measurements conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in collaboration with Peking University. All cases of emergency room visits in the vicinity of the measuring site will be ascertained in hospitals adjacent to the measurement station in collaboration with Peking University. Mortality data will be obtained for selected districts from the official agencies. Poisson regression models adjusting for confounding effects of trend, seasonal variations, calendar effects, and weather conditions will be used to quantify the association between daily mortality, daily numbers of emergency room visits and ambient air pollution concentrations. Variations of the effect estimates over time will be evaluated in time-varying coefficient models.This project will provide new evidence on the impact of air quality regulations on daily counts of cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality in Beijing during the Olympic Games and on the relative importance of particles in different size ranges.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Persons: Dr. Susanne Breitner-Busch; Dr. Josef Cyrys, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Annette Peters; Professor Dr. Uwe Schlink; Dr. Birgit Wehner
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Olf Herbarth, until 6/2014