The researchers identified positive associations between short-term PM2.5 exposure and risk for hospital admission for several prevalent diseases, including septicemia, fluid and electrolyte disorders, and acute and unspecified renal failure, which are rarely studied. Confirming previously published results, positive associations were observed between the risk for hospital admission and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, Parkinson disease, diabetes, phlebitis, thrombophlebitis, and thromboembolism. When restricted to days with a daily PM2.5 concentration below the World Health Organization air quality guideline for the 24-hour average exposure to PM2.5, these associations remained consistent. A 1 µg/m³ increase in short-term PM2.5 correlated with an annual increase of 2,050 hospital admissions, 12,216 days in the hospital, $31 million in inpatient and post-acute care costs, and $2.5 billion in value of statistical life for the rarely studied diseases.
“Economic analysis suggests that even a small increase in short-term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with substantial economic effect,” the authors write.