Mortality and morbidity due to exposure to Ambient NO₂, SO₂, and O₃in Isfahan in 2013–2014

Abstract

Background:The presence of air pollutants such as CO, NO2, SO2, O3, and PM in the ambient air mainly emitted from fossil fuels combustion has become a major health concern. The aims of this study were to estimate the attribution of NO2, SO2, and O3 in the premature deaths and prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Isfahan in 2013–2014.Methods:In this study, short-term health effects (total mortality, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute myocardial infarction) of exposure NO2, SO2, and O3 on the population of Isfahan were assessed using AirQ 2.2.3 software suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).Results:The result showed that from nonaccident total mortality in 2013–2014 in Isfahan, the attributable proportion related to NO2, SO2, and O3 were 1.03% (109 cases), 3.46% (365 cases), and 1.29% (136 cases), respectively. The percentage of days that people were exposed to the highest concentration of NO2 (40–49 μg/m3), SO2 (60–69 μg/m3), and O3 (40–49 μg/m3) was 34.46%, 16.85%, and 42.74% of a year, respectively. Total mortality attributed to NO2, SO2, and O3 exposure was 0.36%, 0.79%, and 0.83%, respectively.Conclusions:The concentrations of NO2 and SO2 were upper than the WHO guidelines. The Air-Q software in spite of its limitations can provide useful information regarding the health outcome of the air pollutants. The results estimated in this study were considerable. This information can help the health authorities and policy makers to draw suitable strategies and fulfill effective emission control programs.

Comparative Analysis of Long-Term Variation Characteristics of SO2, NO2, and O3 in the Ecological and Economic Zones of the Western Sichuan Plateau, Southwest China

“…The Sichuan Basin is one of the areas in China suffering from serious air pollution due to its special weather and topography [1,2,3,4]. Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), and ozone (O 3 ) are important pollutants that not only affect the generation of atmospheric fine particles and the photochemical and atmospheric acidification processes but also threaten human health [5,6,7,8]. Many previous studies [9,10,11] have carried out quantitative analysis of SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3 pollutants, discussed the diurnal and seasonal variation characteristics, and pointed out that SO 2 and NO 2 have the lowest concentration in summer due to the wet cleaning effect of precipitation, while O 3 has the highest concentration as a result of the most active photochemical reactions occurring in spring and summer, indicating that NO x is an important precursor of O 3 .…”

Strengths and Weaknesses of the WHO Urban Air Pollutant Database

“…The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study has attributed 233,638 premature deaths per year globally to long-term exposure to O 3 (Cohen et al, 2017;Gakidou et al, 2017). Although a global estimate of premature deaths due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) does not exist, some papers have estimated the premature deaths attributable to NO 2 (Walton et al, 2015;Hadei et al, 2017;Abdolahnejad et al, 2018;EEA, 2019). The European Environment Agency (2014) estimated a total of 78,000 premature deaths from exposure to NO 2 in 41 European countries.…”

New Insights Into the Role of Atmospheric Transport and Mixing on Column and Surface Concentrations of NO2 at a Coastal Urban Site

“…Because of its importance as an air pollutant, surface concentrations of NO 2 have been measured routinely throughout the world to monitor compliance with environmental regulations. These in situ measurements of NO 2 surface concentrations relate most directly to ambient exposures and have therefore informed many studies documenting the correlation between NO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere with human morbidity and mortality (Abdolahnejad et al., 2018; Brønnum‐Hansen et al., 2018; He et al., 2020; J. H. Lin et al., 2015; Linares et al., 2018; Orellano et al., 2020; Samoli et al., 2006; Tao et al., 2012; Williams et al., 2014; Zúñiga et al., 2016). Because of the sparsity of long‐term surface‐based monitoring networks throughout much of the world, satellite observations of the atmospheric column abundance of NO 2 have also proved extremely valuable in assessing global and regional changes in NO 2 (Abdelsattar et al., 2021; Barkley et al., 2017; Bauwens et al., 2020; Duncan et al., 2013; Goldberg et al., 2021; Gu et al., 2017; Huang & Sun, 2020; Jeong & Hong, 2021; Lorente et al., 2019; Mashat et al., 2016; Miyazaki et al., 2012; Mostafa et al., 2021; Ngo et al., 2021; Russell et al., 2012; Schaap et al., 2013; Vinken et al., 2014; C. Wang et al., 2020; L. Zhang et al., 2017).…”

“…Because of its importance as an air pollutant, surface concentrations of NO 2 have been measured routinely throughout the world to monitor compliance with environmental regulations. These in situ measurements of NO 2 surface concentrations relate most directly to ambient exposures and have therefore informed many studies documenting the correlation between NO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere with human morbidity and mortality (Abdolahnejad et al, 2018;Brønnum-Hansen et al, 2018;He et al, 2020;J. H. Lin et al, 2015;Linares et al, 2018;Orellano et al, 2020;Samoli et al, 2006;Tao et al, 2012;Williams et al, 2014;Zúñiga et al, 2016).…”