Short-term exposure to extreme temperature and outpatient visits for respiratory diseases among children in the northern city of China: a time-series study.

BACKGROUND: Although studies have indicated that extreme temperature is strongly associated with respiratory diseases, there is a dearth of studies focused on children, especially in China. We aimed to explore the association between extreme temperature and children's outpatient visits for respiratory diseases and seasonal modification effects in Harbin, China. METHODS: A distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was used to explore the effect of extreme temperature on daily outpatient visits for respiratory diseases among children, as well as lag effects and seasonal modification effects. RESULTS: Extremely low temperatures were defined as the 1st percentile and 2.5th percentile of temperature. Extremely high temperatures were defined as the 97.5th percentile and 99th percentile of temperature. At extremely high temperatures, both 26 °C (97.5th) and 27 °C (99th) showed adverse effects at lag 0-6 days, with relative risks (RRs) of 1.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-1.48] and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.24-1.53), respectively. However, at extremely low temperatures, both - 26 °C (1st) and - 23 °C (2.5th) showed protective effects on children's outpatient visits for respiratory diseases at lag 0-10 days, with RRs of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.76-0.97) and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.75-0.95), respectively. We also found seasonal modification effects, with the association being stronger in the warm season than in the cold season at extremely high temperatures. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that extremely hot temperatures increase the risk of children's outpatient visits for respiratory diseases. Efforts to reduce the exposure of children to extremely high temperatures could potentially alleviate the burden of pediatric respiratory diseases, especially during the warm season.

The association between blue light exposure and incidence of type 2 diabetes: A prospective study of UK biobank.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the most common type of diabetes. However, research on the relationship between blue light exposure and diabetes development is limited. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between blue light exposure and T2D incidence and whether it is affected by sleep duration, physical activity, outdoor activity time, and genetic susceptibility. METHODS: A total of 471,686 participants without diabetes were recruited from the UK Biobank cohort. T2D incidence was assessed using hospital inpatient records. Blue light exposure was calculated based on the time spent watching TV, using a computer, and playing computer games, which was determined using an online questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the survival relationship between blue light exposure and T2D, as well as the potential modification effects. RESULT: A total of 18,738 cases of T2D were documented during the median follow-up of 13.04 years. After adjusting for potential confounders, the participants with heavy blue light exposure had a greater risk of T2D compared to those with mild blue light exposure (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12-1.23). A significant association between blue light exposure and T2D risk was observed among the participants with heavy physical activity (HR = 1.39, 95%CI: 1.25-1.55), healthy sleep habits (HR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.10-1.36), higher outdoor activity time (HR = 1.14, 95%CI: 1.07-1.22), or high genetic susceptibility (HR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.14-1.35). However, this association became non-significant among the participants with low genetic susceptibility (HR = 1.05, 95%CI: 0.97-1.15). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that blue light exposure is associated with a greater risk of T2D independent of classical T2D risk factors.

The Short-Term Effects of Ambient Air Pollutants are Associated With Daily Mortality in Northeast China From 2014 to 2018: A Time Series Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the associations between ambient air pollutants and daily mortality in Northeast China from 2014 to 2018. METHODS: A two-stage approach was used to estimate particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) exposure and daily mortality. RESULTS: An increase of 10 µg/m3 of PM10 exposure and NO2 at lag of 0 to16 days was associated with the cumulative relative risk of 1.011 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.004, 1.019) and 1.026 (95% CI: 1.004, 1.049), respectively, in non-accident mortality. Meanwhile, significant association was observed in people aged under 60 years between SO2 exposure and respiratory mortality at lag of 0 to 9 days. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings strengthen the evidence of PM10 and NO2 exposures were independent risk for daily mortality.

Effects of indoor air quality on the pulmonary function of schoolchildren in Harbin / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the indoor air quality of Harbin and its suburbs, and analyze the influence of indoor air quality on the pulmonary function indexes of schoolchildren, and to provide a reference for preventing the related respiratory diseases.@*Methods@#The concentration of CO 2, formaldehyde, benzene, PM 10 and total bacterial count in indoor of 80 residents in Harbin and its suburb were monitored. The IAAH model was used to evaluate the indoor air quality, and the correlation between the indoor air quality and the pulmonary function indexes of schoolchildren was analyzed.@*Results@#The levels of indoor air pollutant in suburb was higher than that in the urban of Harbin, and the concentration of CO 2, PM 10 and total bacteria count in the suburb of Harbin increase significantly during the heating season(t=5.86，4.92，21.16, P<0.05). Among the 40 households monitored by IAAH model in suburb during heating season, 37.5% had moderate air pollution, and 20.0% had severe air pollution. The IAAH was correlated with FVC, FEF75% and FEF25% after excluding the confounding factors by multiple linear regression(β=-0.17, -0.34, -0.43, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Indoor air pollution is very serious in the suburb of Harbin during heating season, which should be paid attention to by parents to prevent related respiratory diseases of schoolchildren.

Drinking water in rural schools in Harbin during 2014 to 2018 / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the drinking water quality of rural schools in Harbin in the past five years.@*Methods@#According to the requirements of Harbin municipal drinking water sanitation monitoring program, rural schools were monitored for drinking water in dry and wet periods, water quality was tested according to the standard test method for drinking water (GB/T 5750—2006), and water quality was evaluated according to the standard for drinking water (GB 5749—2006).@*Results@#A total of 320 water samples were tested from 2014 to 2018, and the qualified rate was 75.63% in 5 years, which showed an increasing trend( χ 2=10.81, P <0.05). The qualified rate of drinking water in treated rural schools (79.41%) was higher than that in untreated rural schools(68.97%)( χ 2=4.38, P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#The drinking water sanitation of rural schools in Harbin is not optimistic. Supervision and monitoring of drinking water in rural schools, construction and management of treatment and disinfection facilities should be strengthened to ensure the safety of drinking water for teachers and students.