Health effects of Saharan dust in Sicily Region (Southern Italy)

OBJECTIVES: to investigate the increase of PM10 during Saharan dust outbreaks with adverse health effects in Sicily (Southern Italy), the largest Mediterranean Island. DESIGN: pooled analyses of time series with Poisson regression els to estimate the association between PM10 from different sources (desert and non-desert) and different outcomes. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: the four largest cities of Sicily (Palermo, Catania, Syracuse, and Messina) and three macroareas (NorthEast, South, and West) Sicily was divided into. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: daily count of cause-specific (ICD-9 codes) mortality and hospital admissions: natural (0-799), cardiovascular (390-459), and respiratory causes (460-519). RESULTS: 962 days affected by Saharan dust (30% of all days: 2,257) were identified. Significant associations between desert PM10 and natural mortality both in the cities and in the macro-areas were found, with increases of risk and 95% confidence intervals equal to 1.1% (95%CI 0.1-2.1) and 1.1% (95%CI 0.8-1.5) per 10 μg/m3 increase in lag 0-1 PM10, respectively. Weaker estimates were found for cardiorespiratory mortality. Desert PM10 displayed an association with respiratory hospitalizations, especially in the three macroareas (0.5%; 95%CI 0.1-1.0). In contrast, cardiovascular hospitalizations were associated only with non-desert PM10 in the four cities (1.3%; 95%CI 0.4- 2.1%). Higher desert PM10-related mortality was found during the warmer months (period: April-September): 2.7% (95%CI 0.8-4.5) in the four cities and 2.5% (95%CI 1.8%-3.2%) in the three macroareas. conclusions: PM10 originating from desert was positively associated with mortality and hospitalizations in Sicily. Policies should aim to reduce anthropogenic emissions even in areas with large contribution from desert sources.