THE EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON THE CHILDREN HEALTH STATUS OF ZONGULDAK CITY, TURKEY
Yazarlar: Lokman Hakan Tecer, Nazan Tomaç2 Ferhat Karaca, Ayşe Kaplan, Tunç Tunçer, Hamit Aydın
Air pollution effects human health particularly some sensitive groups such as children, pregnant, elderly people, asthmatics etc. in many ways, including reduced lung function, increased morbidity, increased use of health care services, and infant mortality. The aim of this study was to assessment of health effects due to particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), pollen, and meteorological variables in children in Zonguldak city which is the main mining centre of Turkey. Daily counts of children admission for respiratory diseases to Karaelmas University Hospital were obtained for the period January-December 2002. Some statistical analyses like regression analysis, MSE values and p-values were used to assess the associations between the occurrence of respiratory symptoms and diseases (ORSD) and those parameters: PM, SO2, pollen and meteorological variables.
Monthly average of ORSD increased significantly with increasing ambient level of PM, SO2 and pollen. The R-squared statistic of multiple regression models indicates that the model as fitted explains 99.97% of the variability in total report. In the second case, ORSD episode, higher values than annual mean value, were analyzed to understand the relationship between air pollution, pollen counts. The model indicates that there is a good correlation between ORSD episode and monthly average concentrations of air pollution and pollen in Zonguldak. Current study is the first study of children admissions for respiratory diseases and air pollution in Zonguldak showing that SO2, PM, pollen and some meteorological parameters are associated with ORSD in children.
hkadtmk.org alanından [PDF]