Air Quality and Health Risks Associated With Exposure to Particulate Matter: A Cross-Sectional Study in Khorramabad, Iran

Abstract

Background: Among ambient air pollutants, particulate matter (PM) has the most undesired adverse effects on human health. Many studies have reported that there is a strong correlation between PM concentrations and hospital admissions due to chronic or acute respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Objectives: The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between air quality and health endpoints of PM 10 in Khorramabad, Iran. Materials and Methods:The PM 10 sampling was carried out with a high-volume sampler at a flow rate of 1.1 -1.4 m 3 /min from January through December 2014. Meteorological data was also collected and evaluated. The total mortality and morbidity rates were calculated using the AirQ2.2.3 software model. Results:The highest concentrations of PM 10 were obtained in July, with the mean concentration of 136.48 µg/m 3 . Eastern and southeastern winds are the prevailing and semi-prevailing winds in Khorramabad. The worst air quality was also observed in July. The total mortality rate during the study was estimated to be 320 persons. Conclusions: In order to diminish the health impacts of particulate matter in Khorramabad, health training for the public, especially for persons with chronic lung and heart diseases, the elderly, and children, should be conducted by health systems to encourage them to reduce their activities during dusty days.

Health Impact Assessment Associated with Exposure to PM10 and Dust Storms in Kuwait

“…This study used actual cases of morbidity and mortality and concluded that dust particulates were strongly correlated with acute lower/upper respiratory disorders and asthma. This study also revealed that dust storms, suspended dust, rising dust and PM 10 followed a similar pattern throughout the studied period with high peaks during summer months, specifically in June, and lower during winter months; this finding confirms the robust link between dust storm events and ambient air PM 10 levels and is in agreement with other studies in similar arid conditions [6,29,43,44]. Increased PM 10 concentrations during the summer can be associated with the Middle Eastern dust storms from the arid lands of Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia which are the particular sources of dust events coming to Kuwait from the Northwest [2,29,45].…”

“…Moreover, all regional Iranian studies [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] have used the AirQ 2.3.3 software to model the health impact of short-term exposure to PM 10 ; this software was developed by the WHO to model European morbidity and mortality rates and may overestimate the relative risk and increase prediction error if used by non-European countries because of the obvious higher dust storm events and elevated levels of PM 10 concentrations, especially in the Arabian region. This study used actual cases of morbidity and mortality and concluded that dust particulates were strongly correlated with acute lower/upper respiratory disorders and asthma.…”

“…Many studies from Iran have demonstrated a positive association between dust particles and total mortality including cardiovascular and respiratory mortalities [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] and hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases [35,36]. Only three studies were conducted in Kuwait to determine the health impact of dust storms on morbidity and mortality rates.…”

Spatial and Temporal Trends of Short-Term Health Impacts of PM2.5 in Iranian Cities; a Modelling Approach (2013-2016)

“…The results showed that the reduction in longterm exposure to PM 10 concentrations by 5 µg m -3 would have prevented between 3300 and 7700 premature deaths annually, 500 to 1000 of which were associated with shortterm exposure (Medina et al, 2004). Health impacts of air pollution in several cities of Iran have been estimated in several studies using AirQ software (Goudarzi, 2014;Asl et al, 2015;Nourmoradi et al, 2015;Ghozikali et al, 2016;Miri et al, 2016;Mohammadi et al, 2016;Nourmoradi et al, 2016;Khaniabadi et al, 2017). However, only a few of them have considered the health effects of PM 2.5 as a pollutant.…”

Estimation of Mortality and Hospital Admissions Attributed to Criteria Air Pollutants in Tehran Metropolis, Iran (2013-2016)

“…They concluded that the high number of deaths could be the result of higher PM 10 average or because of sustained highconcentration days in Ahvaz . There are other studies about the application of AirQ 2.2.3 for a variety of air pollutants in different Iranian cities (Goudarzi, 2014;Geravandi et al, 2015;Nourmoradi et al, 2015;Ghozikali et al, 2016;Mohammadi et al, 2016;Nourmoradi et al, 2016;Khaniabadi et al, 2017). However, there has not been a recent analysis of the impacts of each of the criteria pollutants on health outcomes in Tehran, Iran's most populous city.…”