Effect of fine aerosols in urban air on the frequency of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases
N.V. Dudorova, B.D. Belan
V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Tomsk, Russia
Keywords: PM, particulate matter in the atmosphere, air pollution, health, hospitalization, respiratory system, epidemic, virus, COVID-19
Abstract
The impact of PM2.5 in urban air on the frequency of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases is studied based on data on the atmospheric PM2.5 concentration from the TOR station (Tomsk) and on the number of hospitalizations of Tomsk residents for respiratory diseases and coronavirus infection (ICD-10 codes J00-J99, U07.1, and U07.2) from the register of emergency calls over a twelve-year period (2010-2022). It is shown that the level of air pollution with PM2.5 and the duration of pollution episodes almost do not affect the number of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in the absence of infectious agents, which increase the number of such hospitalizations. However, in the cases where infectious agents, including SARS-CoV-2, are present in urban air, which promotes an increase in the number of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, fine aerosols as carriers of the infectious agents contribute to their faster transfer and infection of more city residents compared to the cases of clean air. During such episodes, relatively low PM2.5 concentrations (30-50 μg/m3) can several times increase the number of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, including coronavirus infection, even in such a fairly clean city as Tomsk, ignoring the rise of the number of hospitalizations due to seasonal morbidity or epidemic.
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