Human health impact assessment of exposure to particulate matter: an AirQ software modeling

The aim of this study was to assess the health impacts related to particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM10) exposure in the city of Yazd, Iran. For this aim, AirQ 2.2.3 software was used to model relationship between short-term exposure to PM10 and disease cases proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The annual mean concentration of PM10 was 97 μg/m3. The maximum concentration value of PM10 was measured during the summer (731 μg/m3). 4.988% (95%CI: 3.381–6.542%) of the total mortality, 7.3% (95%CI; 4.19–10.21%) of cardiovascular mortality, and 10.21% (95%CI; 4.19–14.89%) of respiratory mortality were related to the PM10 concentrations. Consequently, the AirQ software can provide valuable information about the importance of air pollution and the substantial impacts of PM10 on the society for policymakers.