The impact of the Hazelwood coal mine fire smoke exposure on asthma

Abstract

Objective

In 2014, a fire at an open cut coal mine in South-eastern Australia burned for about 6 weeks. Residents of the adjacent town were exposed to high levels of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) during this period. Three and a half years after the event, this study aimed to investigate potential long-term impacts of short-term exposure to coal mine fire smoke on asthma.

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken in a group of exposed participants with asthma from Morwell (n = 165) and a group of unexposed participants with asthma from the control town of Sale (n = 64). Exposure was determined by modeled PM_2.5 data for the mine fire period. Respiratory symptoms were assessed with a validated respiratory health questionnaire and symptom severity score. Asthma control was assessed with a validated questionnaire. Lung function testing included spirometry, bronchodilator response, and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide.

Results

There was no evidence that exposed participants had more severe asthma symptoms, worse lung function, or more eosinophilic airway inflammation than unexposed participants. However, there was some evidence that Morwell participants had more uncontrolled than well-controlled asthma, compared to the participants from Sale (adjusted relative risk ratio 2.71 95% CI: 1.02, 7.21, p = .046).

Conclusion

Three and a half years after exposure, coal mine fire smoke did not appear to be associated with more severe asthma symptoms or worse lung function but might be associated with poorer asthma control.

Keywords:

• Air pollution
• asthma
• coal industry
• particulate matter
• smoke

Acknowledgements

The Respiratory Stream clinics were set up in facilities provided by the Central Gippsland Health Service, Sale and Latrobe Community Health Service, Morwell. We thank Ms Susan Denny, who oversaw all aspects of participant recruitment and Sharon Harrison for assistance with purchasing, logistics and set up of the clinics. Anthony Del Monaco is thanked for assistance with data management.

Disclosure statement

Michael Abramson holds investigator initiated grants for unrelated research from Pfizer and Boehringer-Ingelheim. He has also undertaken an unrelated consultancy for Sanofi and received a speaker’s fee from GSK. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study. Data are available from the authors with the permission of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (Victoria, Australia). The paper presents the views of the authors and does not represent the views of the Department.