BACKGROUND AND AIM[|]Few studies of morbidity and exposure to air pollutants have been carried out in Latin America, where the social context may imply variations in the effect of air pollutants. We aimed to determine the association between admissions to the emergency services (EA) for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants in Colombia between 2015 and 2019.[¤]METHOD[|]A time series analysis design was performed, with daily average concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, SO2, ozone, and meteorological data from Bogotá, 2015 to 2019. Cardiovascular and respiratory emergency admissions (EA) data was collected from the health information system. Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) were used to assess the association between EA and daily air pollutant exposure. Sensitive analysis was made using quasi-Akaike criteria and residual analysis. Similar analyses in Cali and Medellin are underway.[¤]RESULTS[|]There is a positive and statistically significant exposure-response relation between cardiovascular EA and PM2.5 (Relative Risk RR= 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.20) and ozone (RR= 1.11; 95% CI: 1.04 – 1.20), and between SO2 and respiratory EA (RR=1.37; 95% CI: 1.14 – 1.66) per every 10 g/m3 increase in pollutant exposure in Bogotá. For respiratory EA, there was a RR of 1.03 (95% CI: 0.97 – 1.11) per every 10 g/m3 increase in PM25 exposure. Other pollutants didn’t have a positive exposure-response relation.[¤]CONCLUSIONS[|]Although ozone and SO2 concentrations do not exceed 2021 WHO guidelines, they have significant effects on EA for cardiovascular and respiratory causes, respectively. It is noteworthy that the effects of ozone are more consistent on cardiovascular than respiratory EA, given that it is an irritant to the respiratory tract; the effect of particles on cardiovascular EA and SO2 on respiratory EA is consistent with that found in the scientific literature.[¤]

Peer reviewed