Health Impacts from Ambient Particle Exposure in Southern Sweden

Ralf Rittner, Erin Flanagan, Anna Oudin and Ebba Malmqvist
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Ralf Rittner: Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
Erin Flanagan: Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
Anna Oudin: Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
Ebba Malmqvist: Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: A health impact assessment (HIA) is an important tool for making informed decisions regarding the design and evaluation of environmental interventions. In this study, we performed a quantitative HIA for the population of Scania (1,247,993), the southernmost county in Sweden, in 2016. The impact of annual mean concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ), modeled at their home residences for the year 2011, on mortality, asthma, dementia, autism spectrum disorders, preeclampsia and low birth weight (LBW) was explored. Concentration–response (C-R) functions were taken from epidemiological studies reporting meta-analyses when available, and otherwise from single epidemiological studies. The average level of PM 2.5 experienced by the study population was 11.88 µg/m 3 . The PM 2.5 exposure was estimated to cause 9–11% of cases of LBW and 6% of deaths from natural causes. Locally produced PM 2.5 alone contributed to 2–9% of the cases of diseases and disorders investigated. Reducing concentrations to a maximum of 10 µg/m 3 would, according to our estimations, reduce mortality by 3% and reduce cases of LBW by 2%. Further analyses of separate emission sources’ distinct effects were also presented. Reduction of air pollution levels in the study area would, as expected, have a substantial effect on both mortality and adverse health outcomes. Reductions should be aimed for by local authorities and on national and even international levels.

Keywords: health impact assessment; air pollution; mortality; burden of disease; low birth weight; HIA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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