Health effects associated with short-term exposure to hydrogen sulfide from geothermal power plants: a case-crossover study in the geothermal areas in Tuscany.

Autor: Nuvolone D; Epidemiology Unit, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, Via Pietro Dazzi 1, 50124, Florence, Italy. daniela.nuvolone@ars.toscana.it., Petri D; Epidemiology Unit, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, Via Pietro Dazzi 1, 50124, Florence, Italy., Biggeri A; Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications 'G. Parenti', University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 59, 50134, Florence, Italy., Barbone F; Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, via dell'Istria 65/1, 34137, Trieste, Italy., Voller F; Epidemiology Unit, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, Via Pietro Dazzi 1, 50124, Florence, Italy.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: International archives of occupational and environmental health [Int Arch Occup Environ Health] 2020 Aug; Vol. 93 (6), pp. 669-682. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Feb 07.
DOI: 10.1007/s00420-020-01522-9
Abstrakt: Objective: Thirty-four geothermal power plants for the production of electricity are currently active in the geothermal areas in Tuscany. The present study aimed to investigate the association between short-term exposure to hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and acute health outcomes.
Methods: This study used individual data on non-accidental, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, urgent hospital admissions (HA) and emergency department (ED) visits for cardiorespiratory diseases occurring from 2000 to 2017. All cases were georeferenced and matched to daily H 2 S data, derived from 18 monitoring sites. A case-crossover design following the matched pair interval approach was applied and conditional logistic regression models were fitted to estimate odds ratios and their 90% confidence intervals, adjusting for a set of time-dependent variables, such as influenza epidemics, holidays and temperature.
Results: A total of 8054 deaths, 30,527 HA and 15,263 ED visits occurred. Mortality for non-accidental (OR = 1.11, 90% CI 1.02-1.22) and cardiovascular causes (OR = 1.22, 90% CI 1.03-1.44) were associated with an increase of 10 µg/m 3 of H 2 S daily levels only among men. Hospital admissions for respiratory diseases were positively associated with H 2 S exposure: OR = 1.11 (90% CI 1.00-1.22) among women. No associations were observed in ED visits analyses.
Conclusions: In this case-crossover study in the Tuscan geothermal areas, short-term exposure to H 2 S was weakly associated with some mortality and morbidity outcomes. Our findings did not show a clear pattern as the results were not homogeneous between mortality and morbidity data or between men and women.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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