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Increased respiratory morbidity associated with exposure to a mature volcanic plume from a large Icelandic fissure eruption.

ABSTRACT: The 2014-15 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland was the largest fissure eruption in over 200 years, emitting prodigious amounts of gas and particulate matter into the troposphere. Reykjavík, the capital area of Iceland (250 km from eruption site) was exposed to air pollution events from advection of (i) a relatively young and chemically primitive volcanic plume with a high sulphur dioxide gas (SO₂) to sulphate PM (SO₄^2-) ratio, and (ii) an older and chemically mature volcanic plume with a low SO₂/SO₄^2- ratio. Whereas the advection and air pollution caused by the primitive plume were successfully forecast and forewarned in public advisories, the mature plume was not. Here, we show that exposure to the mature plume is associated with an increase in register-measured health care utilisation for respiratory disease by 23% (95% CI 19.7-27.4%) and for asthma medication dispensing by 19.3% (95% CI 9.6-29.1%). Absence of public advisories is associated with increases in visits to primary care medical doctors and to the hospital emergency department. We recommend that operational response to volcanic air pollution considers both primitive and mature types of plumes.

SUBMITTER: Carlsen HK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8042009 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Increased respiratory morbidity associated with exposure to a mature volcanic plume from a large Icelandic fissure eruption.

Carlsen Hanne Krage HK Ilyinskaya Evgenia E Baxter Peter J PJ Schmidt Anja A Thorsteinsson Throstur T Pfeffer Melissa Anne MA Barsotti Sara S Dominici Francesca F Finnbjornsdottir Ragnhildur Gudrun RG Jóhannsson Thorsteinn T Aspelund Thor T Gislason Thorarinn T Valdimarsdóttir Unnur U Briem Haraldur H Gudnason Thorolfur T

Nature communications 20210412 1

The 2014-15 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland was the largest fissure eruption in over 200 years, emitting prodigious amounts of gas and particulate matter into the troposphere. Reykjavík, the capital area of Iceland (250 km from eruption site) was exposed to air pollution events from advection of (i) a relatively young and chemically primitive volcanic plume with a high sulphur dioxide gas (SO2) to sulphate PM (SO42-) ratio, and (ii) an older and chemically mature v ...[more]

PMID: 33846312

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Project description:BackgroundThe Holuhraun volcanic eruption September 2014 to February 2015 emitted large amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO2). The aim of this study was to determine the association between volcanic SO2 gases on general population respiratory health some 250 km from the eruption site, in the Icelandic capital area.MethodsRespiratory health outcomes were: asthma medication dispensing (AMD) from the Icelandic Medicines Register, medical doctor consultations in primary care (PCMD) and hospital emergency department visits (HED) in Reykjavík (population: 215000) for respiratory disease from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014. The associations between daily counts of health events and daily mean SO2 concentration and high SO2 levels (24-h mean SO2 > 125 μg/m3) were analysed using generalized additive models.ResultsAfter the eruption began, AMD was higher than before (129.4 vs. 158.4 individuals per day, p < 0.05). For PCMD and HED, there were no significant differences between the number of daily events before and after the eruption (142.2 vs 144.8 and 18.3 vs 17.5, respectively). In regression analysis adjusted for other pollutants, SO2 was associated with estimated increases in AMD by 0.99% (95% CI 0.39-1.58%) per 10 μg/m3 at lag 0-2, in PCMD for respiratory causes 1.26% (95% CI 0.72-1.80%) per 10 μg/m3 SO2 at lag 0-2, and in HED by 1.02% (95% CI 0.02-2.03%) per 10 μg/m3 SO2 at lag 0-2. For days over the health limit, the estimated increases were 10.9% (95% CI 2.1-19.6%), 17.2% (95% CI 10.0-24.4%) for AMD and PCMD. Dispensing of short-acting medication increased significantly by 1.09% (95% CI 0.49-1.70%), and PCMD for respiratory infections and asthma and COPD diagnoses and increased significantly by 1.12% (95% CI 0.54-1.71%) and 2.08% (1.13-3.04%).ConclusionHigh levels of volcanic SO2 are associated with increases in dispensing of AMD, and health care utilization in primary and tertiary care. Individuals with prevalent respiratory disease may be particularly susceptible.

Dataset Information

Increased respiratory morbidity associated with exposure to a mature volcanic plume from a large Icelandic fissure eruption.

Publications

Increased respiratory morbidity associated with exposure to a mature volcanic plume from a large Icelandic fissure eruption.

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