Respiratory hospitalizations in association with fine PM and its components in New York State

Figures & data

Table 1. Distributions of pollutant concentrations and percent contribution of each PM_2.5 component to PM_2.5 total mass, New York State, 2000–2005.

	Min	25th	Mean	Median	75th	Max	IQR	PM2.5 mass fraction^+
PM2.5	<.01	3.63	8.03	6.64	11.11	69.46	7.48	—
EC	—	0.08	0.23	0.16	0.28	9.16	0.20	2.9
OC	—	0.41	0.91	0.71	1.15	23.54	0.74	11.3
SO4	—	1.18	4.01	2.33	5.45	40.62	4.27	49.9
NH4	—	0.55	1.30	1.06	1.82	10.93	0.27	16.2
NO3	—	0.04	0.87	0.27	1.09	24.63	1.05	10.8
Other	—	0.33	0.71	0.56	0.91	14.99	0.58	8.8
O3	2.75	28.30	36.89	35.14	44.00	123.39	15.69	—
UAT	–22.96	24.23	40.68	42.57	59.49	85.11	35.26	—

Notes: PM_2.5, particulate matter <2.5 µm (µg/m³); EC, elemental carbon; OC, organic carbon; NH₄, ammonium; NO₃, nitrate; SO₄, sulfate; OTH, other, including non-carbon organic matter; O₃, ozone (ppb); UAT, average universal apparent temperature (°F).

⁺ The proportion across the study period, calculated based on mean concentrations.

Table 2. Correlations between ambient outdoor PM_2.5, O₃, and temperature, by season.

	PM25	EC	OC	SO4	NH4	NO3	OTH	O3	UAT	PM25	EC	OC	SO4	NH4	NO3	OTH	O3	UAT
	Winter									Summer
PM25	1.00									1.00
EC	0.86	1.00								0.54	1.00
OC	0.85	0.96	1.00							0.33	0.75	1.00
SO4	0.81	0.50	0.48	1.00						0.97	0.40	0.16	1.00
NH4	0.96	0.73	0.71	0.86	1.00					0.94	0.61	0.38	0.89	1.00
NO3	0.87	0.77	0.75	0.58	0.87	1.00				0.51	0.61	0.54	0.13	0.43	1.00
OTH	0.88	0.95	0.98	0.76	0.77	0.54	1.00			0.45	0.82	0.96	0.49	0.55	0.28	1.00
O3	–0.34	–0.30	–0.23	–0.35	–0.32	–0.30	–0.25	1.00		0.59	0.42	0.31	0.42	0.13	0.41	0.37	1.00
UAT	0.40	0.24	0.20	0.42	0.21	0.56	0.22	–0.42	1.00	0.55	0.29	0.10	0.50	–0.10	0.56	0.16	0.52	1.00
	Spring									Fall
PM25	1.00									1.00
EC	0.68	1.00								0.69	1.00
OC	0.65	0.90	1.00							0.67	0.88	1.00
SO4	0.90	0.40	0.37	1.00						0.91	0.41	0.40	1.00
NH4	0.98	0.63	0.58	0.90	1.00					0.97	0.66	0.62	0.89	1.00
NO3	0.51	0.69	0.63	0.19	0.54	1.00				0.42	0.66	0.52	0.12	0.49	1.00
OTH	0.69	0.91	0.98	0.63	0.65	0.42	1.00			0.72	0.90	0.97	0.68	0.55	0.46	1.00
O3	0.26	0.08	0.18	0.25	–0.07	0.31	0.18	1.00		0.28	0.06	0.17	0.26	–0.23	0.38	0.17	1.00
UAT	0.39	0.07	0.10	0.36	–0.33	0.57	0.10	0.42	1.00	0.44	0.17	0.28	0.37	–0.33	0.56	0.26	0.57	1.00

Notes: PM_2.5, particulate matter <2.5 µm (µg/m³); EC, elemental carbon; OC, organic carbon; NH₄, ammonium; NO₃, nitrate; SO₄, sulfate; OTH, other, including noncarbon organic matter; O₃, ozone (ppb); UAT, average universal apparent temperature (°F).

Figure 1. Seasonal trends in average daily PM_2.5 total mass and species concentrations, New York State, 2000–2005.

Figure 2. Year-round and season-stratified hazard ratios (HRs) of respiratory hospitalization for 0–4 day lags per IQR change in PM_2.5 total mass and species, 2000–2005: (a) year-round data; (b) winter; (c) summer; (d) fall; (e) spring.

Figure 3. Mean composition of PM_2.5 mass, by species mass fraction tertile: (a) high SO₄, NH₄, and low EC, OC, NO₃, and other. (b) Low SO₄, NH₄, and high EC, OC, NO₃, and other.

Figure 4. Hazard ratios (HRs; models adjusted for UAT) of respiratory hospitalization for 0–4 day lags per IQR change in PM_2.5 total mass, 2000–2005, by tertiles of species mass fraction: (a) secondary PM_2.5 species, and (b) carbon components and other PM_2.5.