Abstract
The main objective of this work is the assessment of the annual number of hospital admissions for respiratory diseases (HARD) due to the exposure to inhalable particulate matter (PM10), within the greater Athens area (GAA), Greece. To achieve this aim, on the one hand, time series of the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) recorded in six monitoring stations located in the GAA, for a 13-year period 2001–2013, have been statistically analyzed. On the other hand, the AirQ2.2.3 software developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) was used to evaluate adverse health effects by PM10 in the GAA during the examined period. The results show that, during the examined period, PM10 concentrations present a significant decreasing trend. Also, the mean annual HARD cases per 100,000 inhabitants ranged between 20 (suburban area) and 40 (city center area). Approximately 70% of the annual HARD cases are due to city center residents. In all examined sites, a declining trend in the annual number of HARD cases appears. Moreover, a strong relation between the annual number of HARD cases and the annual number of days exceeding the European Union daily PM10 threshold value was found.
Highlights
Various epidemiological studies have shown the significant impacts of urban air pollution on human health
Many researchers have used the AirQ2.2.3 model, which has been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to investigate the influence of air pollution on public health and to estimate the adverse effects of air pollution on human health, especially in an urban populated environment [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
The air pollution problems are often exacerbated by factors that favor the accumulation of air pollutants over the city, such as topography, narrow and deep street canyons and adverse meteorological conditions, such as temperature inversions, low wind speed, high air temperature, extensive periods of dryness [15,16]
Summary
Various epidemiological studies have shown the significant impacts of urban air pollution on human health. Several epidemiological studies have shown that the adverse health effects are related to both short- and long-term exposure to inhalable particulate matter [1,2,3,4,5]. The selected sites were chosen to present different activities at north and south areas of Cairo city. They applied the AirQ2.2.3 model in order to calculate the risk on human communities as a result of particulate matter exposure. The output results showed that quantifying the impact of air pollution on the public’s health has become an increasingly critical component in policy discussion
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