Emergency visits and hospital admissions in aged people living close to a gas-fired power plant

BackgroundCombustion of natural gas for energy generation produces less pollutants than coke/oil. However, little is known about the short-term effect of pollution generated by gas-fired power plants on the health of elderly people.MethodsDuring three months, daily emergency visits/hospital admissions of subjects living within 3 km from a gas-fueled power plant were counted and related to ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter of median aerometric diameter < 10 μm (PM10). A generalized additive model served to correlate visits/hospital admissions to pollutants, controlling for meteorological confounders.ResultsMean air concentrations of PM10 and NO2 were higher after-than before the start of operation of the plant, with the highest concentrations recorded within 1 km. Although pollutants were below the limits set by the European legislation, in elderly people there was a positive correlation between the number of emergency visits and daily air concentrations of PM10 and NO2, as measured at 1 and 3 km from the plant. In subjects aged 70 years or more, the number of hospital admissions was positively correlated with PM10 levels measured within 3 km from the power plant, whereas in older subjects (≥ 80 year) it was also significantly linked with the lowest air concentration of PM10 (measured at 6 km from the plant).DiscussionCombustion of natural gas for energy generation produces a rise in air concentration of PM10 and NO2 close to the plant, with a concentration-dependent increment of daily emergency visits and hospital admissions in elderly people, and with an age-dependent susceptibility.