Spatiotemporal assessment of mortality attributable to ambient PM 2.5 exposure in Taiwan during 2008 –2015

In this study, we quantified the spatiotemporal burden of mortality attributable to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5, which is defined as a mass of particles with an aerodynamic dry diameter of ≤ 2.5 μm) in Taiwan during 2008–2015. Hourly concentrations of PM2.5 were obtained from the Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network. According to geographical and climatic characteristics, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration has divided Taiwan into seven air quality regions (AQRs): the North (four districts), Chu-Miao (two districts), Central (three districts), Yun-Chia-Nan (three districts), Kao-Ping (two districts), Yilan (one district), and Hua-Tung (two districts) regions. Demographic information and mortality data were acquired from the Department of Household Registration and National Death Registry of Taiwan, respectively. The World Health Organization ’s (WHO) AirQ+ software was used to estimate the mortality attributable to exposure to PM2.5 for specific causes of deaths, specifically from ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease (stroke), lung cancer (LC), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The results indicated that nationally, the annual mean concentration of PM2.5 decreased from 2008 (30.75  μg m−3) to 2015 (20.07  μg m−3). Moreover, the population-attributable fraction (PAF) of cause-specific mortality due to PM2.5 exposure for IHD, stroke, LC, and COPD decreased from 21.72%, 30.31%, 15.97%, and 13.04%, re...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research