The impact of 9/11 on the association of ambient air pollution with daily respiratory hospital admissions in a Canada‐US border city, Windsor, Ontario

Abstract

The 11 September 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks in the United States resulted in long lines of trucks at the border crossing in Windsor, Ontario. Public concern about the potential impact of these trucks spewing toxic pollutants into the air drew attention to the need to investigate the impact of 9/11 on the daily levels of air pollutants and respiratory hospitalization. In this study, significant increases in respiratory admissions were found one month and 6 months post‐9/11. Mean daily respiratory admission was also significantly higher than the same period one year earlier and one year later. SO₂ and CO concentration levels were found to be generally higher after 9/11 than one year before and immediately before. Relative risk estimates of respiratory hospitalization after 9/11 showed that SO₂ ( = 1.15 for two‐day, = 1.18 for three‐day, and = 1.21 for five‐day averages), NO₂ ( = 1.10 for current day), and COH ( = 1.09 for current day, = 1.10 for two‐day average) had the most significant effects after 9/11. These results suggest the need for more stringent regulatory efforts in air quality in the region in response to the changing transportation dynamics at this Canada‐US border crossing.

Keywords:

• Air pollution
• Hospital admissions
• 11 September 2001
• Windsor, Ontario

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by an NSERC operating grant to K. Fung, by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) investigator award to K. Gorey and an associated CIHR partnership appointment and Canadian Foundation for Innovation grant to I. Luginaah. We would like to thank Vanita Economou from the Canadian Institute for Health Information and Melynda Bitzos from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for providing us the hospitalization and air quality data respectively.

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