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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1535543
This article is part of the Research Topic Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Health Inequality: Vulnerability of Marginalized Populations View all 4 articles

Impact of Sand and Dust Storms on Mortality in Jinan City, China

Provisionally accepted
Chaofan Shen Chaofan Shen 1Mingjun Li Mingjun Li 2*Qingchang Wang Qingchang Wang 2*Jinjiao Luan Jinjiao Luan 1*Jiliang Si Jiliang Si 1*Liangliang Cui Liangliang Cui 3*
  • 1 Shandong University, Jinan, China
  • 2 Jinan Disease Prevention and Control Center, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
  • 3 Jinan Mental Health Center, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Sand and dust storms (SDSs) cause considerable health risks worldwide. China is a country seriously affected by SDSs, however only few studies researched the risk of SDS in China. The insufficient evidence on SDS hampers effective measures to mitigate its harm. Objective: To reveal the mortality risks associated with SDSs in Jinan City and identify sensitive populations vulnerable to these events. Methods: For this time-stratified case-crossover study, we collected daily data on all-cause, circulatory, and respiratory deaths, as well as air pollution and meteorological information from Jinan City in China between January 1, 2013, and November 30, 2022. We initially utilized a time-stratified case-crossover design and logistic regression model to examine the short-term relationship between SDSs and mortality risks, adjusting for specific variables such as mean temperature, humidity, wind speeds, and holidays. Subsequently, we conducted stratified analyses by age, gender, and season. Results: A total of 53 SDSs were observed, lasting for 88 days during the study period, which accounted for 2% of the study period. The excess mortality risks associated with SDSs were 13% (95% CI: 4%-22%), 4% (95% CI: 1%-8%), and 3% (95% CI: 1%-6%) for respiratory, circulatory, and all-cause death, respectively. Females and people over 65 years of age are vulnerable to respiratory deaths caused by SDSs. Conclusion: Short-term exposure to SDSs caused the significantly elevated risks of respiratory, circulatory and all-cause death. Females and individuals over the age of 65 are particularly vulnerable to the effects of SDSs.

    Keywords: Dust storms, PM10, Mortality, Case-crossover study, Logistic regression

    Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Shen, Li, Wang, Luan, Si and Cui. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Mingjun Li, Jinan Disease Prevention and Control Center, Jinan, 250000, Shandong Province, China
    Qingchang Wang, Jinan Disease Prevention and Control Center, Jinan, 250000, Shandong Province, China
    Jinjiao Luan, Shandong University, Jinan, China
    Jiliang Si, Shandong University, Jinan, China
    Liangliang Cui, Jinan Mental Health Center, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.