TY - JOUR
T1 - Potential health impacts from sulphur dioxide and sulphate exposure in the UK resulting from an Icelandic effusive volcanic eruption
AU - Heaviside, Clare
AU - Witham, Claire
AU - Vardoulakis, Sotiris
N1 - Funding Information:
The modelling used for this work was originally carried out on behalf of the UK Civil Contingencies Secretariat, for the National Risk Register, in partnership with Public Health England and the UK Met Office. CH is supported by a NERC fellowship (NE/R01440X/1) and acknowledges funding from the Wellcome Trust HEROIC project (216035/Z/19/Z).
Funding Information:
The modelling used for this work was originally carried out on behalf of the UK Civil Contingencies Secretariat, for the National Risk Register, in partnership with Public Health England and the UK Met Office. CH is supported by a NERC fellowship ( NE/R01440X/1 ) and acknowledges funding from the Wellcome Trust HEROIC project ( 216035/Z/19/Z ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/6/20
Y1 - 2021/6/20
N2 - Ash, gases and particles emitted from volcanic eruptions cause disruption to air transport, but also have negative impacts on respiratory and cardiovascular health. Exposure to sulphur dioxide (SO2) and sulphate (SO4) aerosols increases the risk of mortality, and respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions. Ash and gases can be transported over large distances and are a potential public health risk. In 2014–15, the Bárðarbunga fissure eruption at Holuhraun, Iceland was associated with high emissions of SO2 and SO4, detected at UK monitoring stations. We estimated the potential impacts on the UK population from SO2 and SO4 associated with a hypothetical large fissure eruption in Iceland for mortality and emergency hospital admissions. To simulate the effects of different weather conditions, we used an ensemble of 80 runs from an atmospheric dispersion model to simulate SO2 and SO4 concentrations on a background of varying meteorology. We weighted the simulated exposure data by population, and quantified the potential health impacts that may result in the UK over a 6-week period following the start of an eruption. We found in the majority of cases, the expected number of deaths resulting from SO2 over a 6-week period total fewer than ~100 for each model run, and for SO4, in the majority of cases, the number totals fewer than ~200. However, the 6-week simulated period with the highest SO2 was associated with 313 deaths, and the period with the highest SO4 was associated with 826 deaths. The single 6-week period relating to the highest combined SO2 and SO4 was associated with 925 deaths. Over a 5-month extended exposure period, upper estimates are for 3350 deaths, 4030 emergency cardiovascular and 6493 emergency respiratory hospitalizations. These figures represent a worst-case scenario and can inform health protection planning for effusive volcanic eruptions which may affect the UK in the future.
AB - Ash, gases and particles emitted from volcanic eruptions cause disruption to air transport, but also have negative impacts on respiratory and cardiovascular health. Exposure to sulphur dioxide (SO2) and sulphate (SO4) aerosols increases the risk of mortality, and respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions. Ash and gases can be transported over large distances and are a potential public health risk. In 2014–15, the Bárðarbunga fissure eruption at Holuhraun, Iceland was associated with high emissions of SO2 and SO4, detected at UK monitoring stations. We estimated the potential impacts on the UK population from SO2 and SO4 associated with a hypothetical large fissure eruption in Iceland for mortality and emergency hospital admissions. To simulate the effects of different weather conditions, we used an ensemble of 80 runs from an atmospheric dispersion model to simulate SO2 and SO4 concentrations on a background of varying meteorology. We weighted the simulated exposure data by population, and quantified the potential health impacts that may result in the UK over a 6-week period following the start of an eruption. We found in the majority of cases, the expected number of deaths resulting from SO2 over a 6-week period total fewer than ~100 for each model run, and for SO4, in the majority of cases, the number totals fewer than ~200. However, the 6-week simulated period with the highest SO2 was associated with 313 deaths, and the period with the highest SO4 was associated with 826 deaths. The single 6-week period relating to the highest combined SO2 and SO4 was associated with 925 deaths. Over a 5-month extended exposure period, upper estimates are for 3350 deaths, 4030 emergency cardiovascular and 6493 emergency respiratory hospitalizations. These figures represent a worst-case scenario and can inform health protection planning for effusive volcanic eruptions which may affect the UK in the future.
KW - Effusive eruption
KW - Emergency cardiovascular hospitalization
KW - Emergency respiratory hospitalization
KW - Health risk assessment
KW - Iceland
KW - Mortality
KW - Sulphate
KW - Sulphur dioxide
KW - Volcano
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101120532&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145549
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145549
M3 - Article
C2 - 33611010
AN - SCOPUS:85101120532
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 774
SP - 1
EP - 21
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 145549
ER -
