TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatial and Temporal Trends of Number of Deaths Attributable to Ambient PM2.5 in the Korea

AU - Han, Changwoo

AU - Kim, Soontae

AU - Lim, Youn-Hee

AU - Bae, Hyun-Joo

AU - Hong, Yun-Chul

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Background: We aimed to evaluate the spatial and temporal trends of the health burden attributable to particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) in the metropolitan cities and provinces of the Korea.Methods: We used modeled PM2.5 concentration data for the basic administrative levels, comprising the cities and the provinces of Korea, the corresponding annual population census data for each level, and the age and cause specific mortality data. We applied cause-specific integrated exposure-response functions to calculate the premature mortality attributable to ambient PM2.5 for four disease end points (ischemic heart disease [IHD], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], lung cancer [LC], and cerebrovascular disease [stroke]) for the year 2015. Moreover, the temporal trends of the health burden from 2006 to 2015 were assessed.Results: The annual average PM2.5 concentration for Korea was 24.4 μg/m3, and 11,924 premature deaths were attributable to PM2.5 exposure in 2015. By simulating the reduction in the annual mean values of PM2.5 to 10 µg/m3, about 8,539 premature deaths were preventable. There was spatial variation in mortality burden attributable to PM2.5 across the sub-national regions of Korea. In particular, the high burden was concentrated at Seoul and Gyeonggi province due to the high population density. However, decreasing trends were noted for most of the metropolitan cities and provinces of Korea since 2006.Conclusion: Our findings show that further actions to improve air quality in Korea would substantially improve the health burden due to particulate matter.

AB - Background: We aimed to evaluate the spatial and temporal trends of the health burden attributable to particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) in the metropolitan cities and provinces of the Korea.Methods: We used modeled PM2.5 concentration data for the basic administrative levels, comprising the cities and the provinces of Korea, the corresponding annual population census data for each level, and the age and cause specific mortality data. We applied cause-specific integrated exposure-response functions to calculate the premature mortality attributable to ambient PM2.5 for four disease end points (ischemic heart disease [IHD], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], lung cancer [LC], and cerebrovascular disease [stroke]) for the year 2015. Moreover, the temporal trends of the health burden from 2006 to 2015 were assessed.Results: The annual average PM2.5 concentration for Korea was 24.4 μg/m3, and 11,924 premature deaths were attributable to PM2.5 exposure in 2015. By simulating the reduction in the annual mean values of PM2.5 to 10 µg/m3, about 8,539 premature deaths were preventable. There was spatial variation in mortality burden attributable to PM2.5 across the sub-national regions of Korea. In particular, the high burden was concentrated at Seoul and Gyeonggi province due to the high population density. However, decreasing trends were noted for most of the metropolitan cities and provinces of Korea since 2006.Conclusion: Our findings show that further actions to improve air quality in Korea would substantially improve the health burden due to particulate matter.

KW - Air Pollutants

KW - Air Pollution

KW - Cities

KW - Environmental Exposure

KW - Particulate Matter/analysis

KW - Republic of Korea

U2 - 10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e193

DO - 10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e193

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30034305

VL - 33

JO - Journal of Korean Medical Science

JF - Journal of Korean Medical Science

SN - 1011-8934

IS - 30

M1 - e193

ER -