Short-term impact of exposure to ambient air volatile organic compounds on daily clinic visits for urticaria in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

BACKGROUND Air volatile organic compounds (VOCs) cause allergic reaction mainly via the respiratory tract or skin. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the association between daily visits by patients with urticaria and short-term changes in exposure to ambient air VOCs. METHODS The dependent variable was information from patients with urticaria at a medical center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from 2014/01/01 to 2018/07/31. The multivariable model included one-day average 75th percentile values of air VOCs and meteorologic data retrieved from Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network database, and was analyzed using a case-crossover study design and conditional logistic regression. RESULTS Total daily clinic visits for urticaria were significantly positively associated with higher levels of 4 VOCs (ethylbenzene, toluene, m-/p-xylene, and o-xylene (adjusted odds ratio (AOR: 1.03-1.28)) on the visit days, and 10 VOC levels on the fourth lag day (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, m-/p-xylene, o-xylene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, n-hexane, methylcyclohexane, cyclohexane, and ethylene (AOR: 1.02-3.02)). Analyses of age and gender subgroups revealed that men showed resistance on the visit day, and women, older, and younger patients were more vulnerable. Men were influenced by higher benzene levels (AOR = 1.24) on the fourth lag day. Higher values of more than 6 VOCs on the fourth lag day significantly affected women, younger and older patients (AOR: 1.04-6.5). The most notable VOCs were methylcyclohexane (women AOR = 3.28, younger AOR = 3.82) and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (women AOR = 2.77, older AOR = 6.5) on the fourth lag day, which had the lowest concentrations but highest influence. CONCLUSION The concentration of certain air VOCs significantly affected daily visits for urticaria.

• Publication year

  2024

• Venue

  Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology

• Publication date

  2024-04-20

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.12932/ap-270923-1701PMID 38642326
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The relationship between outdoor air pollutants and atopic dermatitis of adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

  2022cited by this paper
• Short-term impact of ambient air pollution exposure on daily clinic visits for patients with urticaria in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  2021influential reference
• The impact of air pollution on skin and related disorders: A comprehensive review

  2021cited by this paper
• Exposure Assessment For Air-To-Skin Uptake of Semivolatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) Indoors.

  2018cited by this paper
• The EAACI/GA²LEN/EDF/WAO guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis and management of urticaria

  2018cited by this paper
• Volatile Organic Compounds in Air: Sources, Distribution, Exposure and Associated Illnesses in Children

  2018cited by this paper
• Indoor air-related symptoms and volatile organic compounds in materials and air in the hospital environment

  2018cited by this paper
• Exposure to ambient bioaerosols is associated with allergic skin diseases in Greater Taipei residents.

  2016cited by this paper
• Elevations in T‐helper‐2‐initiating cytokines (interleukin‐33, interleukin‐25 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin) in lesional skin from chronic spontaneous (‘idiopathic’) urticaria

  2015cited by this paper
• The Air Quality Health Index and Emergency Department Visits for Urticaria in Windsor, Canada

  2015cited by this paper
• Volatile organic compounds and risk of asthma and allergy: a systematic review

  2015cited by this paper
• Chronic spontaneous urticaria: etiology and pathogenesis.

  2014cited by this paper
• Domestic exposure to volatile organic compounds in relation to asthma and allergy in children and adults

  2014cited by this paper
• Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality

  2014cited by this paper
• Ambient ozone and emergency department visits for skin conditions

  2012cited by this paper
• Induction of Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin Production by Xylene and Exacerbation of Picryl Chloride-Induced Allergic Inflammation in Mice

  2011cited by this paper
• Epidemiology of urticaria: a representative cross‐sectional population survey

  2010cited by this paper
• Estimation of absorption of aromatic hydrocarbons diffusing from interior materials in automobile cabins by inhalation toxicokinetic analysis in rats

  2010cited by this paper
• Use of epidemiologic data in Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessments.

  2008cited by this paper
• On the equivalence of case-crossover and time series methods in environmental epidemiology.

  2007cited by this paper
• Case–Crossover Analyses of Air Pollution Exposure Data: Referent Selection Strategies and Their Implications for Bias

  2005cited by this paper
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms in environmental and occupational inhalation toxicology

  2004cited by this paper
• Effect of exposure to volatile organic compounds on plasma levels of neuropeptides, nerve growth factor and histamine in patients with self-reported multiple chemical sensitivity.

  2004cited by this paper
• Assessment of exposure to indoor air pollutants.

  1997cited by this paper

• Effect of exposure to ambient air volatile organic compounds on the severity of atopic dermatitis and lag-day effect.

  2025cites this paper
• Effects of temperature on daily hospital visits for urticaria in Nanchang, China: a distributed lag nonlinear time series analysis

  2025cites this paper
• Positive effect of exposure to ambient air volatile organic compounds on clinic visits for atopic dermatitis.

  2024influential citation
• Effect of Ambient Air Pollutants Exposure on Clinic Visits for Atopic Dermatitis, a Nationwide Study in Central-Southern Taiwan

  2024cites this paper