Health Impacts of Exposure to PM10 on Inhabitants of Shiraz, Iran

Particulate matters have harmful effects on human health and can intensify mortality and disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health impacts of particulate matter < 10 μ in diameter (PM10) on the inhabitants of Shiraz, one of the largest cities in southern Iran with a population of 1,500,000. The AirQ2.2.3 model developed by the world health organization European centre for environment and health was used in this study. Excess cases of mortality, total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease (CVD) were calculated. The results of this study show that 25.3% cases of total mortality, 1.1% cases of cardiovascular mortality, 0.3% cases of respiratory mortality, and 3.3% cases of hospital admissions for CVD in 2012 occurred at particulate matter concentrations > 40 µg/m³. About 15.9% cases of total mortality, 0.7% cases of cardiovascular mortality, 0.2% cases of respiratory mortality, and 2% cases of hospital admissions for CVD in 2013 occurred at particulate matter concentrations >20 µg/m³. Moreover, in 2012, > 85% of the studied health effects were related to days with a PM10 concentration of < 400 µg/m³, and in 2013, about 99% of the studied health effects were related to days with a PM10 concentration of < 189 - 180 µg/m³. According to the results obtained, the largest numbers of deaths and illnesses were due to the high average PM10 concentration or an increase in the number of days of exposure to this pollutant.