Quantifying the Health Burden of Air Pollution on Major Diseases Using the WHO AirQ+ Software

Air pollution remains a leading environmental risk factor for premature mortality and morbidity worldwide, contributing to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions, lung cancer, and other health outcomes. The World Health Organization's AirQ+ software is a widely used tool for health impact assessment (HIA), enabling quantification of attributable deaths and cases from exposure to key pollutants such as PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, NO₂, and O₃. This review synthesizes applications of AirQ+ across diverse urban and regional settings, focusing on long-term and short-term exposure effects. Drawing from epidemiological concentration-response functions, AirQ+ estimates attributable fractions for endpoints including all-cause mortality, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, lung cancer, acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI), and hospital admissions. Studies demonstrate substantial health burdens: for example, high PM₂.₅ levels (e.g., >۴۰ µg/m³ in certain cities) are linked to ۲۰–۳۰% of attributable respiratory and cardiovascular deaths, with reductions toward WHO guidelines (e.g., ۵ µg/m³ annual mean for PM₂.₅) potentially preventing hundreds to thousands of premature deaths annually per city. The tool highlights benefits of pollution control scenarios, such as ۱۰% reductions yielding significant mortality savings. This review underscores AirQ+'s utility in evidence-based policy-making for air quality management and public health protection in polluted environments.

کلیدواژه ها:

Air pollution ، Health impact assessment ، AirQ+ software ، PM₂.₅ ، Mortality ، Morbidity ، Respiratory diseases ، Cardiovascular diseases ، WHO guidelines