Quantitative Relationship Between Particulate Matter and Morbidity

Air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a close relationship between small particles (PM10 and PM2.5) and increased morbidity or mortality, both daily and over time. We investigated this quantitative relationship in Sofia by comparing levels of particulate matter with a baseline number of hospital, emergency department visits, asthma prevalence, and other morbidity outcomes from 4 local health sources. The methods for this comparison model are linear correlation and non-parametric correlation analysis of a time series study conducted in Sofia from 1 January 2017 to 31 May 2019. We introduce in this study an optimized spatial and time coverage of air quality by including data from a network of citizen stations. These benefits are weighed against limitations, such as model performance, the precision of the data in days with high humidity, and the appropriateness of which will depend on epidemiological study design. The final results that will be presented can be used for optimizing healthcare and pharmaceutical planning by justifying what acute morbidities are mostly affected by higher concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5.