THE EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION AND LOCAL METEOROLOGY ON CHILDREN’S RESPIRATORY HEALTH: A CASE-CROSSOVER STUDY IN BALIKESIR

11th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM2011, www.sgem.org, SGEM2011 Conference Proceedings/ ISSN 1314-2704, June 20-25, 2011, Vol. 2, 1263-1270 pp

ABSTRACT

In this study, It is estimated the effect of short-term exposure to air pollution on hospital admission for respiratory illnesses among young children. The study used existing data from records of three hospitals. Air quality and meteorological data were used to estimate daily exposure for children. The impact of air pollution on the respiratory health of children is assessed using case-crossover methodology. During study period (June 2007- May 2008), the average particulate matter (PM10) concentration is 93.77 μg/m3 with 78.93 μg/m3 standard deviation. A significant associations have been found between PM10 level and hospital admissions for all respiratory diseases in all age groups of children. The different odds ratios up to 5 % for exposure to PM10 with an increment of 10 μg/m3 were found for respiratory diseases including asthma,
pneumonia, acute bronchite.

Keywords: Air pollution, meteorology, children’s respiratory health effects, casecrossover, Balıkesir, Turkey.