Estimation of Epidemiological Indicators of Long-term Exposure to PM2.5 and Its Impact on Lung Cancer in People Over 30 Years in 2008-2017 in Ahvaz City, Iran

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers globally and the third leading cause of death in Iran. Particulate matter is one of the leading air pollutants in urban areas that can pass through the nose and throat, penetrate deep into the lungs, and cause serious health outcomes. Our primary purpose was to estimate the rate of lung cancer deaths in people over 30 years of age in the long-term exposure to PM2.5 in ten years in Ahvaz.

Data related to deaths (including population and incidence of health outcomes) and PM2.5 were obtained from the Deputy of Health, Environmental Protection, and Meteorological Organizations of Ahvaz. After validating the data according to Aphekom’s instructions, they entered the AirQ+ software. Also, 24-hour particle concentrations during the year, total population, at-risk population, the baseline incidence rate of desired health outcomes, and particle threshold of 10μg /m3 were prepared and entered into the software.

The highest concentration of PM2.5 was in 2010 (70.72 µg /m3 ), and the lowest concentration was in 2014 (41.97 µg /m3 ), and in all years of measurement, the amount of PM2.5 was higher than the WHO standard (10 µg /m3 ). The results showed a significant relationship between lung cancer and PM2.5 concentration. Thus, with the increase of air pollution in Ahvaz due to PM2.5 pollutants, mortality and the risk of these diseases increased. The results obtained for mortality due to lung cancer is one of the most deadly types, had the highest attributable 28.57% (2010) and the lowest 20.63% (2014). Also, the highest and lowest total attributable individuals were 24 (2010) and 18 (2014), respectively. Thus, PM2.5 pollutants can be effective in people with lung cancer.

As we know, this pollutant has caused many destructive effects and mortality to the residents of Ahvaz. For this purpose, the authorities in this field must provide preventive and applicable solutions to reduce the concentration of particulate matter and investigate the impacts. It can be concluded that appropriate measures and policies should be adopted to reduce air pollution in controlling PM2.5 sources of pollution to reduce the health effects of this pollutant in urban residents. Accordingly, it has been proven that reducing air pollution can reduce the burden of lung cancer and acute and chronic respiratory diseases. According to studies, a decrease of 10 m3 in the concentration of particulate matter PM2.5 increases life expectancy by about 0.61 years.