Abstract
Introduction: Air pollution induced by human activities is one of major challenges faced by Iran, as well as the world . The AirQ model was used to evaluate the cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributable to the exposure to suspended particles of less than 10 µm in Urmia city of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran, in 2015. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted in Urmia in 2015. The hourly data of the PM10 (particle matter up to 10 µm) pollutant were extracted as the raw material from the Environmental Health Center. The health effects of suspended particles of less than 10 µm were estimated by statistical analysis using the World Health Organization’s AirQ model.Results: According to the results concentration of PM10 was higher in the cold seasons compared with the warm seasons. The annual average of PM10 concentration was 3.9 times higher than that prescribed as per the standards of clean air in Iran. In addition, the cumulative numbers of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in the city of Urmia in the median estimate were 287 and 744 cases, respectively. Conclusion: As a consequently, air pollution in the Urmia city has contributed significantly to the rate of hospitalizations and deaths of people in 2015. Therefore, authorities should make appropriate, sustainable, and applicable strategies based on comprehensive research to control the Urmia air pollution crisis.
Highlights
Air pollution induced by human activities is one of major challenges faced by Iran, as well as the world
Authorities should make appropriate, sustainable, and applicable strategies based on comprehensive research to control the Urmia air pollution crisis
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2012, about 3.7 million people died because of the ambient air pollution, and about 88% of the deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries [4]
Summary
Air pollution induced by human activities is one of major challenges faced by Iran, as well as the world. Pollution from fuel combustion has reduced dramatically Newfound pollutants such as ozone and NO2, as well as changes in the distribution and the size of suspended particles are contributing significantly to urban health concerns [3, 5]. Many epidemiologic studies have been conducted in different parts of the world to determine the relationship between the effects of air pollution and human health. Results of these studies have indicated that increasing air pollution is responsible for causing acute respiratory infections, decreasing vision, chronic respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and heart diseases, in turn leading to an increase in the mortality rate [2, 6, 7]. The various epidemiological evidence is based on research that uses suspended particles of less than 10 μm, which is used as one of the indicators of contact with suspended particles which are related to a high mortality rate in the long- and short-term exposures [8,9,10]
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