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Publication type
Conference proceedings
Konferenzposter
Monographie
Date
2015
DOI
'http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/'

Health impact of ambient air pollution in Kerala, India

a first quantitative risk assessment
Authors
Editor
Containing Item
8th European Public Health Conference-Health in Europe
Keywords
Citation
Health impact of ambient air pollution in Kerala, India, 2015. [online]. Verfügbar unter: https://openumwelt.de/handle/123456789/7752
Abstract english
Background
Globally, ambient air pollution is an important risk factor forhuman health. Particularly in South Asia, this risk factor causesa considerable disease burden. For developing effectivemitigation programs small-scale health risk assessments areneeded to quantify the effects of ambient air pollution onhealth. The objective of the study is to test the feasibility of theenvironmental burden of disease (EBD) concept at state levelin India and to quantify a first set of disease burden estimatesdue to ambient air pollution in urban areas of Kerala.
Method
Particulate Matter (PM) is used as an indicator for ambient airpollution. The disease burden due to PM2.5 is quantified inYears of Life Lost (YLL) for the female and male populationaged 30 years and older living in urban areas of Kerala.Scenario analyses are performed to account for uncertainties inthe input parameters.
Results
About 6,100 (Uncertainty Interval (UI): 4,150-7,790) totalnatural deaths can be attributed to PM, resulting in about96,000 (UI: 65,000-123,000) YLLs due to premature mortality(base case scenario, average for 2008-2011). Depending on theunderlying assumptions the results vary between 47,000 and377,000 YLLs. Scenario analyses show that a decrease of 10% inPM concentration would save around 16,000 (UI: 11,000-20,000) life years and an increase by 10% would elevate theburden by nearly 13,000 (UI: 9,000-16,000) YLLs. A sensitivityanalysis shows that around half of the disease burden caused byPM is due to cardiovascular causes.
Discussion
The results foster awareness about air quality standards at locallevel and can support decision-making processes aiming atcleaner and healthier environments and improved health.Besides some limitations due to lack of data the EBD-conceptis applicable at state level. The assessment is limited to effectsof ambient air pollution. However, indoor air pollution is anadditional health risk in India which needs to be assessed for acomprehensive quantification of disease burden due to airpollution.
Key messages
-The environmental burden of disease concept is applicableat state level for Kerala, India
-In the base case scenario about 96,000 (UI: 65,000-123,000)Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality can beattributed to ambient particulate matter
Quelle: http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org