Link Between Thunderstorms and Asthma Attacks in the Atlanta Metro Area

Paige E. Tolbert, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Emory University
NIEHS Grant R01ES011294

An in-depth, interdisciplinary study by medical researchers at Emory University and climatologists at the University of Georgia has discovered a link between asthma attacks and thunderstorm activity in the Atlanta metro area. The study was co-funded by NIEHS and the EPA and could have significant public health impacts.

While a relationship between thunderstorms and increased hospital visits for asthma attacks has been known and studied worldwide, this study is the first to combine epidemiology and climatology in a research effort in the American South.

The research team used a database of more than 10 million emergency room visits and found a 3 percent higher incidence of visits related to asthma on days following thunderstorms. While a 3 percent increase may seem modest, the researchers point out that it represents a significant number of hospital visits in an area of more than five million people and is likely a very conservative estimate because of the limitations in the research methodology.

A likely hypothesis offered by the research team for the increase in asthma is that pollen grains may rupture upon contact with rainwater releasing respirable-sized allergens and that gusty winds associated with the storm help to spread these particles. Exposure to certain pollen allergens is a known risk factor for asthma attacks.

During the 11-year period, there were 215,832 asthma emergency room visits and 28,350 of those occurred on days following thunderstorms. There were 564 thunderstorm days in the time period measured by total daily rainfall and wind speed. The research team will continue its work to better understand the mechanistic basis of thunderstorm-induced asthma in an effort to improve intervention strategies and improve planning for emergency room services. They point out that this is particularly important in the era of climate change especially considering severe thunderstorms are estimated to double in the Atlanta area in this century.

Citation: Grundstein A, Sarnat SE, Klein M, Shepherd M, Naeher L, Mote T, Tolbert P. Thunderstorm associated asthma in Atlanta, Georgia. Thorax. 2008 Jul;63(7):659-60.