Ambient PM2.5 and O3 pollution and health impacts in Iranian megacity

Abstract

The main objectives of this study were to (i) assess variation within fine particles (PM 2.5 ) and tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) time series in Khorramabad (Iran) between 2019 (before) and 2020 (during COVID-19 pandemic); (ii) assess relationship between PM 2.5 and O 3 , the PM 2.5 /O 3 ratio, and energy consumption; and (iii) estimate the health effects of exposure to ambient PM 2.5 and O 3 . From hourly PM 2.5 and O 3 concentrations, we applied both linear–log and integrated exposure–response functions, city-specific relative risk, and baseline incidence values to estimate the health effects over time. A significant correlation was found between PM 2.5 and O 3 ( r =−0.46 in 2019, r =−0.55 in 2020, p < 0.05). The number of premature deaths for all non-accidental causes (27.5 and 24.6), ischemic heart disease (7.3 and 6.3), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17 and 19.2), and lung cancer (9.2 and 6.25) attributed to ambient PM 2.5 exposure and for respiratory diseases (4.7 and 5.4) for exposure to O 3 above 10 µg m −3 for people older than 30-year-old were obtained in 2019 and 2020. The number of years of life lost declined by 11.6% in 2020 and exposure to PM 2.5 reduced the life expectancy by 0.58 and 0.45 years, respectively in 2019 and 2020. Compared to 2019, the restrictive measures associated to COVID-19 pandemic led to reduction in PM 2.5 (−25.5%) and an increase of O 3 concentration (+ 8.0%) in Khorramabad.

Increased tropospheric ozone levels as a public health issue during COVID-19 lockdown and estimation the related pulmonary diseases

“…The O 3 concentrations in 2020 increased by 12.2% compared to 2019 and declined by 3.9% in 2021. High levels of sand from the Middle Eastern dessert ( Broomandi et al, 2022 ) reached Southwestern Iran leading to high level of PM ( Khaniabadi et al, 2017a , 2019b ; Omidi Khaniabadi et al, 2019 ; Rashidi et al, 2022 ). The high PM levels led to lower solar radiation, and by consequence to lower O 3 formation ( Anbari et al, 2022 ; Grange et al, 2021 ; Higham et al, 2021 ; Siciliano et al, 2020 ), but also to destruction of O 3 on PM surface ( Sicard et al, 2020 ).…”

City Wind Impact on Air Pollution Control for Urban Planning with Different Time-Scale Considerations: A Case Study in Chengdu, China

“…A study in Shenzhen, a mega city in southern China, has confirmed that the urban surface-wind patterns greatly affected pollutant concentrations [28]. The above results proved the influences of the wind direction and WS on pollutants separately, but neglecting the combined effect of the two, and ignoring orientation variations in pollutant concentrations that were affected by the WS and discrepant spatial allocations [29]. Thus, clarifying local ventilation patterns and quantifying the proper wind condition in prompting pollutant dispersion are of high significance to assess the effect of source control strategies and short-term pollution episodes, which might have a profound and long-run beneficial influence on public health with exposure risk control of main city air pollutants [30,31].…”

Quantification of Ecosystem Services from Urban Mangrove Forest: A Case Study in Angke Kapuk Jakarta

“…The three types of pollutants are PM 10 (55.3 µg/m 3 , 3.7 times the WHO guideline), PM 2.5 (37.7 µg/m 3 , 7.5 times the WHO guideline), and NO 2 (28.8 µg/m 3 , 2.9 times the WHO guideline). In particular, for PM 2.5 , many studies have reported its harmful effects that cause different types of respiratory diseases and even lead to mortality [48,49]. By assuming that the concentration of the pollutants spreads evenly in all area of Jakarta (661.5 km 2 ) with a height of 10 m, the estimates of the total amounts of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and NO 2 in Jakarta in 2022 are 133.6 tonnes, 90.45 tonnes, and 69.6 tonnes, respectively.…”