Ambient Particulate Matter Exposure and Under-Five and Maternal Deaths in Asia

Wei-Hung Lien, Patrick Opiyo Owili, Miriam Adoyo Muga and Tang-Huang Lin
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Wei-Hung Lien: Graduate Institute of Space Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan City 32001, Taiwan
Patrick Opiyo Owili: Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, Eldoret 30100, Kenya
Miriam Adoyo Muga: Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Kabarak University, P.O. Box Private Bag 20157 Kabarak, Kenya
Tang-Huang Lin: Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University, Taoyuan City 32001, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: The Asian region is one of the major emission sources of air pollution. Although ambient PM 2.5 has been linked to several health risks in high-, low-, and middle-income countries, the further analysis of type impact is still rare but significant. The PM 2.5 distribution retrieved from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aerosol optical depth products within 16 years thus explored the associations between under-five and maternal mortality for 45 countries in Asia. Both the nonparametric (Generalized Additive Mixed-Effect) and parametric (Generalized Linear Mixed-Effect) models were employed to analyze the collected datasets. The results show that the levels of PM 2.5 in Asian sub-regions were higher than the Global Air Quality Standards. Biomass PM 2.5 concentrations was associated with increased the rate of under-five (Incidence Rate Ratio, IRR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.13–1.47) and maternal (IRR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.08–1.10) deaths in Asia. Anthropogenic PM 2.5 was associated with increased rate of under-five deaths in Asia by 12%. The nonparametric method revealed that dust PM 2.5 was positively associated with the under-five ( β = 0.04, p < 0.001) and maternal ( β = 0.07, p < 0.001) deaths in Asia. The rate of maternal deaths was increased by biomass/dust (IRR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.63–1.65) and anthropogenic/dust (IRR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.19–1.26) mixture types. In summary, long-term exposure to different types of ambient PM 2.5 in high concentration increased the rate of under-five and maternal deaths, suggesting that policies focusing on preventive and control measures is imperative for developing an improved maternal, newborn, and child health in Asia.

Keywords: type of particulate matter; under-five mortality; maternal mortality; Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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