Investigating the Health Effects of Exposure to Criteria Pollutants Using AirQ2.2.3 in Shiraz, Iran

The quality of air is one of the main environmental issues related to human health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of air pollution on the health of residents in Shiraz, as one of the major cities in Southern Iran, with population of 1500000 people. In this study, AirQ2.2.3 model developed by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health was used. Daily concentration of particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration were used to evaluate the health effects of human exposure to these pollutants. The total number of excess deaths, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) mortality, mortality from respiratory diseases, hospital admissions for CVD and hospital admissions for respiratory disease (RD) were calculated. In 2012 and 2013, hospital admissions for respiratory disease for the WHO baseline incidence of PM10 were respectively 54.6% and 38.6% of the total hospital admissions for respiratory disease. That was the highest short-term health effects on 1500000 Shirazi residents. The assessments carried out indicated the possibility that CVD mortality can play a major role in mortality due to PM10, SO2 and O-3 pollutants. Overall, the results showed that health effects resulting from exposure to pollutants are directly related to their concentration. Therefore, immediate action to prevent pollution and reduce emissions from various sources, such as transport and energy production industries, is required to reduce the concentration of pollutants in Shiraz.