Estimating the health burden associated with exposure to ambient PM2.5 levels, a case study in Tehran

In recent years, more than 90% of the polluted days in Tehran have been caused by an elevation in ambient PM2.5 concentrations, making it the most crucial pollutant. Since the serious adverse health effects associated with PM2.5 have been verified by several epidemiological studies, the necessity of implementing mitigation plans to reduce PM2.5 levels is therefore stressed. In this study, the BenMAP tool, GIS-based software developed by the U.S. EPA, was used to assess the benefits and costs associated with a reduction in PM2.5 concentrations. Since PM2.5 is also a secondary pollutant, the assessment of the health effects related to PM2.5 addresses the effects of changes in the precursor emissions including VOC, NOx and SO2 emissions. To estimate the number of premature deaths attributable to PM 2.5 pollution, BenMAP uses a damage-function approach to assess the health benefits of a change in air quality. The major components of the damage-function approach are population estimates, population exposure, adverse health effects, and economic costs. BenMAP has a number of features to help clarify the analysis process through a variety of reporting options, including a set of mapping tools that allows users to visually inspect their inputs and results. The air quality baseline was based on the hourly averaged PM2.5 concentrations measured at ambient air monitoring stations of AQCC for the year 2015 in Tehran. The air quality control was derived using the monitor rollback method, and by implementing a reduction of 25% in PM2.5 concentrations equally over all the districts. By analyzing the health benefits associated with a 25% reduction in PM2.5 levels, this study found a total of 5457 deaths avoided in the year 2015 (causing a reduction in the number of deaths in Tehran by 5%).

کلیدواژه ها:

health impact assessment ، PM2.5 exposure ، mortality rate ، BenMAP