Impact of Environmental Degradation on Human Health: An Assessment Using Multicriteria Decision Making.

Ayesha Mumtaz,Shazia Rehman,Iftikhar Hussain,Erum Rehman

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.812743

Abstract

Air pollution has emerged as a major global concern in recent decades as a result of rapid urbanization and industrialization, leading to a variety of adverse health outcomes. This research aims to investigate the influence of exposure to ambient and household particulate matter pollution (PM2.5), and ground-level ozone (O3) pollution on respiratory and cardiac mortality in Pakistan. We used grey incidence analysis (GIA) methodology to estimate the degree of proximity among selected variables and rank them based on mortality. Hurwicz's criterion is then adopted for further optimization by prioritizing the selected factors with the greatest influence on respiratory and cardiac mortality. The GIA findings revealed that asthma mortality is considerably impacted by exposure to ambient and household PM2.5 concentration while ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality is potentially influenced by ground-level ozone exposure. Furthermore, results based on Hurwicz's analysis demonstrated that exposure to ambient PM2.5 concentration appeared as the most intensified factor of respiratory and cardiac mortality. This corroboration adds to the growing body of research demonstrating that exposure to ambient PM2.5 adversely leads to respiratory and cardiac risks, emphasizing the demand for further improvement of air quality in Pakistan. Besides, the suggested methodologies provide a valuable tool and additional practical knowledge for policymakers and decision-makers in drawing rational decisions.

Highlights

Pakistan as a developing nation had the fifth-most polluted air in world in 2016, and positioned second in 2019 [1], owing to the same factors that plague much of South Asia: emanations from automobiles, industrial activities, such as block furnaces, industries, and power stations, and agricultural waste
The present investigation is carried out using grey approaches to quantify the strength of association between asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality with associated risk factors for the years 2010–2019
As indicated by Deng’s grey incidence analysis (GIA) model findings, a more grounded measure of influence between ambient PM2.5 exposure and asthma mortality in the Pakistani populace (0.985: first) is observed whereas, a most fragile level of influence is seen for COPD (0.870: fourth)

Summary

Introduction

Pakistan as a developing nation had the fifth-most polluted air in world in 2016, and positioned second in 2019 [1], owing to the same factors that plague much of South Asia: emanations from automobiles, industrial activities, such as block furnaces, industries, and power stations, and agricultural waste. As the pulmonary and cardiac systems are complicatedly interconnected, it is conceivable that pulmonary oxidant stress characterized by PM2.5 and/or O3 exposure may cause downstream changes in the cardiovascular system. It is well-evidenced that particular environmental pollutants presented through the lungs can trigger and/or stimulate the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) [7]. In Pakistan, evidence comes from case studies revealing substantial variations in the outcomes, full-text original research articles are not more than a modest bunch [8,9,10]

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