Abstract
Asian dust, called 'kosa' in Japan, is the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants originating from the desert areas of China and Mongolia. Although Asian dust has a long history of appearing in Japan, it is only quite recently that there is increasing concern for its possible adverse health effects. We reviewed the epidemiologic evidence of potential health effects of Asian dust events. PubMed was used to search for the following keywords: Asian dust, yellow sand, desert dust, dust storm, sandstorm, mortality, death, morbidity, hospitalization, hospital admission, health, pulmonary and respiratory. The search was limited to the epidemiologic studies published between January 1980 and May 2009. JMEDPlus was used to search for Japanese literature. Seventeen studies were retrieved from PubMed and one study from JMEDPlus. In addition, one study was identified for reviewing from the references of another study. In total, we identified 19 epidemiologic studies (3 for mortality, 13 for hospital visits or admissions and 3 for respiratory functions or symptoms) mainly from Taiwan and Korea. There were many combinations of outcomes and lagged exposures examined, and some suggested possible associations of dust exposure with an increase in mortality and hospital visits and admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, whereas the rest of the studies did not show statistically significant associations. The evidence from these studies was limited because exposure assessments were inadequately described and potential confounders were insufficiently controlled. Well-designed epidemiological studies are required to clarify any potential health effects of Asian dust events in Japan.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 413-421 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Nippon eiseigaku zasshi. Japanese journal of hygiene |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 1 2010 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Health effects of Asian dust events : a review of the literature. / Hashizume, Masahiro; Ueda, Kayo; Nishiwaki, Yuji; Michikawa, Takehiro; Onozuka, Daisuke.
In: Nippon eiseigaku zasshi. Japanese journal of hygiene, Vol. 65, No. 3, 01.05.2010, p. 413-421.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Health effects of Asian dust events
T2 - a review of the literature.
AU - Hashizume, Masahiro
AU - Ueda, Kayo
AU - Nishiwaki, Yuji
AU - Michikawa, Takehiro
AU - Onozuka, Daisuke
PY - 2010/5/1
Y1 - 2010/5/1
N2 - Asian dust, called 'kosa' in Japan, is the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants originating from the desert areas of China and Mongolia. Although Asian dust has a long history of appearing in Japan, it is only quite recently that there is increasing concern for its possible adverse health effects. We reviewed the epidemiologic evidence of potential health effects of Asian dust events. PubMed was used to search for the following keywords: Asian dust, yellow sand, desert dust, dust storm, sandstorm, mortality, death, morbidity, hospitalization, hospital admission, health, pulmonary and respiratory. The search was limited to the epidemiologic studies published between January 1980 and May 2009. JMEDPlus was used to search for Japanese literature. Seventeen studies were retrieved from PubMed and one study from JMEDPlus. In addition, one study was identified for reviewing from the references of another study. In total, we identified 19 epidemiologic studies (3 for mortality, 13 for hospital visits or admissions and 3 for respiratory functions or symptoms) mainly from Taiwan and Korea. There were many combinations of outcomes and lagged exposures examined, and some suggested possible associations of dust exposure with an increase in mortality and hospital visits and admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, whereas the rest of the studies did not show statistically significant associations. The evidence from these studies was limited because exposure assessments were inadequately described and potential confounders were insufficiently controlled. Well-designed epidemiological studies are required to clarify any potential health effects of Asian dust events in Japan.
AB - Asian dust, called 'kosa' in Japan, is the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants originating from the desert areas of China and Mongolia. Although Asian dust has a long history of appearing in Japan, it is only quite recently that there is increasing concern for its possible adverse health effects. We reviewed the epidemiologic evidence of potential health effects of Asian dust events. PubMed was used to search for the following keywords: Asian dust, yellow sand, desert dust, dust storm, sandstorm, mortality, death, morbidity, hospitalization, hospital admission, health, pulmonary and respiratory. The search was limited to the epidemiologic studies published between January 1980 and May 2009. JMEDPlus was used to search for Japanese literature. Seventeen studies were retrieved from PubMed and one study from JMEDPlus. In addition, one study was identified for reviewing from the references of another study. In total, we identified 19 epidemiologic studies (3 for mortality, 13 for hospital visits or admissions and 3 for respiratory functions or symptoms) mainly from Taiwan and Korea. There were many combinations of outcomes and lagged exposures examined, and some suggested possible associations of dust exposure with an increase in mortality and hospital visits and admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, whereas the rest of the studies did not show statistically significant associations. The evidence from these studies was limited because exposure assessments were inadequately described and potential confounders were insufficiently controlled. Well-designed epidemiological studies are required to clarify any potential health effects of Asian dust events in Japan.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77955859950&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1265/jjh.65.413
DO - 10.1265/jjh.65.413
M3 - Review article
C2 - 20508385
AN - SCOPUS:77955859950
VL - 65
SP - 413
EP - 421
JO - Japanese Journal of Hygiene
JF - Japanese Journal of Hygiene
SN - 0021-5082
IS - 3
ER -