Assessment of hospitalization and mortality from exposure to PM using AirQ modeling in Ilam, Iran.
Ali Nikoonahad, Razi Naserifar, Vali Alipour, Ayub Poursafar, Mohammad Miri, Hamid Reza Ghafari, Ali Abdolahnejad, Sepideh Nemati, Amir Mohammadi
Author Information
Ali Nikoonahad: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Razi Naserifar: Vice canceller for Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
Vali Alipour: Social Determinants in Health Promotion Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Ayub Poursafar: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
Mohammad Miri: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran.
Hamid Reza Ghafari: Social Determinants in Health Promotion Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Ali Abdolahnejad: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Sepideh Nemati: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
Amir Mohammadi: Student Research Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. amahammadi@gmail.com.
The aims of this study were to assess the health impact of PM on inhabitants and to investigate the trend of PM concentrations in Ilam, Iran, from 2012 to 2015. For these aims, daily average concentration of PM was obtained from continuous monitoring stations in the study area. Mortality and morbidity due to PM were assessed by AirQ software developed by World Health Organization (WHO). Based on the results, the annual mean concentrations of PM in all of years were more than WHO guideline and PM concentration had a decreasing trend in this study period. Total mortality attributed to PM was found to be 49 cases in 2012, 25 in 2013, and 33 in 2014. Hospital admission due to respiratory diseases was the most impact due to PM Increase in relative risk (RR) with every 10 μg/m increase in PM from 2012 to 2015 years for total mortality, respiratory disease hospitalization, and hospital admissions were 0.6, 0.8, and 0.9%, respectively. The results of this study indicated that air pollution is one of the major problems in this urban area and AirQ model as simple tool can help to design preventive and controlling programs in order to reduce human health effects of pollutants.
