Effects of PM₁₀and Weather on Respiratory and Cardiovascular Diseases in the Ciuc Basin (Romanian Carpathians)

• Main Authors: Katalin Bodor, Miruna Mihaela Micheu, Ágnes Keresztesi, Marius-Victor Birsan, Ion-Andrei Nita, Zsolt Bodor, Sándor Petres, Attila Korodi, Róbert Szép
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: PM₁₀; health impact; specific atmospheric conditions; Carpathian Mountains
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/2/289
• ISSN: 2073-4433

This study presents the PM₁₀ concentration, respiratory and cardiovascular disease hospital admissions evolution in the Ciuc basin for a period of 9 years (2008–2016), taking into consideration different meteorological conditions: boundary layer, lifting condensation level, temperature-humidity index, and wind chill equivalent chart index. The PM₁₀ and hospital admissions evolution showed a very fluctuated hourly, weekly, monthly, yearly tendency. The PM₁₀ concentration in winter (34.72 μg/m³) was 82% higher than the multiannual average (19.00 μg/m³), and almost three times higher than in summer (11.71 μg/m³). During the winter, PM₁₀ concentration increased by an average of 9.36 μg/m³ due to the increased household heating. Climatological parameters have a demonstrable effect on the PM₁₀ concentration variation. Children, the elderly and men are more sensitive to air pollution, the calculated relative risk for men was (<i>RR</i> = 1.45), and for women (<i>RR</i> = 1.37), respectively. A moderate correlation (0.51) was found between PM₁₀ and pneumonia (P), while a relatively weak correlation (0.39) was demonstrated in the case of PM₁₀ and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Furthermore, except thermal humidity index (THI), strong negative correlations were observed between the multiannual monthly mean PM₁₀ and the meteorological data. The PM₁₀ followed a moderate negative correlation with the boundary layer (−0.61). In the case of URTI and P, the highest number of hospital admissions occurred with a 5 to 7-day lag, while the 10 μg/m³ PM₁₀ increase resulted in a 2.04% and 8.28% morbidity increase. For lung cancer (LC) and cardiovascular diseases (AMI, IHD, CCP), a maximum delay of 5-6 months was found. Three-month delay and an average growth of 1.51% was observed in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Overall, these findings revealed that PM₁₀ was and it is responsible for one-third of the diseases.