Assessing Health Impact of Air Pollutants in Five Iraqi Cities Using AirQ+ Model

Abstract

Concentration of air pollutants CO, NO2, SO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5 in four Iraqi cities (Al-Najaf, Al-Muthanna, Maysan, Kirkuk) and PM2.5 in Baghdad city were monitored and analysed for the period September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. The results showed that the daily mean concentration of CO, NO2 for the four cities are well below the WHO air quality standard. In general, PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are the factors that govern the air quality index in Iraqi cities under consideration. It is clear that, for all the cities under consideration, the daily AQI is mostly “Moderate” and to a less extent “Unhealthy for sensitive groups”. However, there are 53 days for Al-Muthanna (mainly due to PM10) and 58 days for Baghdad (due to PM2.5 alone) in which the AQI is “Unhealthy”. Moreover, there are another 53 days for Al-Muthanna in which the AQI is “Hazardus”. So, the air quality in Al-Muthanna and Baghdad can be considered lower than that in other cities. Indeed, this is attributed to dust storms in Al-Muthanna and high population of Baghdad city and consequently higher air pollutants emissions due to their industrial, transportation and electric generation activities. AirQ+ software was used to assess public health consequences of long term exposure to PM2.5 in terms of relative risk (RR). RR of acute lower respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary, mortality by lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, mortality by stroke for the five cities were assessed. RR of mortality by lung cancer due to exposure to PM2.5 in Baghdad is the highest among the cities under consideration. RRLC = 1.25 (95% CI = 1.14 – 1.4).