Exposure to Particulate Matter and its Health Impacts (an AirQ Approach)

Background & Aims of the Study: Recent studies indicated that particulate matter can have the lung irritation, chronic lung diseases, lung tissue, etc. The aim objective of this study was to assess of mortality associated with exposure to PM10 concentrations in Ilam, during 2013. Materials & Methods: PM 10 data were taken from Ilam's Local Agency of Environment (I-LAE). The annual mortality, including total, cardiovascular, and respiratory due to PM 10 were estimated using AirQ2.2.3 software model. The relative risk (RR) and baseline incidence (BI) defaulted by the WHO were used for this purpose. Results: The number of excess cases for total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality were estimated 161, 85, and 17 persons, respectively for a year exposure to PM 10 among the people. About 3.95% of mortalities were occurred in the days with concentration levels less than 20 μg/m 3 . The most percentage of person-days attributed to different levels of PM 10 was found to be in concentration of 40-49 µg/m 3 . Conclusions: In order to diminish the health impacts of particulate matter in Ilam city, health training by health systems should be conducted to public people especially persons with chronic lung and heart diseases, elderly and children to reduce their activities in the dusty days.