Application of AirQ+ Software in the Attica Region, Greece: The Hospitalizations and Work Days Lost Attributed to Air Pollutants

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed the AirQ+ software in order to estimate the magnitude of the impact of air pollution on health in a given population. In this study, the AirQ+ was applied to calculate the short-term effects attributed to PM2.5, NO2 and O3 in the Attica Region, Greece. Based on the health endpoints handled by the AirQ+ software, we evaluated the impact of air pollutants on hospitalizations and work days lost. In 2015, 69,460 and 48,972 patients were admitted to the hospitals in the Attica Region due to circulatory and respiratory diseases, respectively. For the estimation of the attributable burden, the time-series of PM2.5, NO2 and O3 concentrations for the year 2015 are used. The burden attributed to PM2.5 is 297 (55–546) and 441 (0–953) hospitalizations for circulatory and respiratory diseases, respectively. NO2 and O3 also contribute to the burden of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases. Specifically, 424 (271–576) and 381 (61–718) respiratory-related hospitalizations are attributed to NO2 and O3, respectively. An important effect of PM2.5 exposure also handled by the AirQ+ is work absenteeism. Based on health statistics for Greece, the number of self-reported work days lost per year due to illness are 14.7 days per employed person. The attributable burden of PM2.5 is 0.33 (0.28–0.38) work days lost (per employed person per year). In conclusion, the short-term effects of air pollution exposure has a great impact on human health.

Keywords

• air pollution
• PM_2.5
• NO₂
• O₃
• air pollution health risk assessment
• AirQ+ software