Health risks attributed to particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less in Tehran air 2005-2014

Introduction: Air pollution, especially particulate matter, is one of the main causes of mortality in humans. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate health risks attributed to particulate matters of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) in Tehran air in the last ten years (2005-2014).

Methods: In this descriptive–analytical study, hourly data of pollutants were obtained from Tehran’s Environmental Protection Agency and Air Quality Control Company and validated according to the WHO guidelines. Required statistical parameters were calculated for quantifying the health impacts and finally the processed data were converted to the format required by AirQ software in Excel® and the health impacts were quantified.

Results: The results showed that the ratio of annual mean concentration of PM2.5 in Tehran to standard values of Iran and WHO was 3.49, 3.02, 3.3, 4.14, 3.83, 4.7, 4.73, 4.07, 4.32 and 3.61 respectively from 2005 to 2014. In addition, total death toll caused by exposure to PM2.5 was 20015 people in the last decade.

Conclusion: The results showed that, like any other pollutants, particulate matter especially PM2.5 adversely impacts human health. During the last decade, the amount of particulate matter in Tehran’s air and its related health risks extremely increased. An appropriate plan is therefore needed to control air pollution, especially particulate matter.