Abstract
▶ Objectives. The present study concerns a health risk assessment in relationship to air quality in two municipalities near Brescia located in an area with high industrial and residential pressure. The purpose was to provide quantitative data on the impact of air pollution on the health of people living in the two municipalities. ▶ Methods. We applied the approach proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) using the AirQ 2.2.3 software developed by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, Bilthoven Division. The software allows an assessment of the impact on human health of air quality in a specific area and period, using experimental data. ▶ Results. The highest health impact was found for PM 2.5 (particulate matter < 2.5 μm), which caused 8 excess cases of total mortality in a year and 421 and 1342 years of life lost (YoLL) in one and 10 years of the simulation, respectively. The impact of ozone on total mortality was of 3.6 of excess cases in one year. ▶ Conclusions. The results of this study are consistent with those obtained in other investigations on the impact of air quality on human health. Moreover, the AirQ software seems to be an effective and easy tool for providing quantitative data on the impact of air pollutants on the health of people living in specific areas.
| Translated title of the contribution | Air quality and health risks |
|---|---|
| Original language | Italian |
| Pages (from-to) | 231-241 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Ricerca e Pratica |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| State | Published - Nov 2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- AirQ
- Excess
- Fine particulate
- Health risk
- Mortality
- Ozone
