[Estimating air quality change-associated health benefits by reducing PM10 in Bogotá]
Edison Y Ortiz-Durán1, Néstor Y Rojas-Roa1
1Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, eyortizd@unal.edu.co.
Objective:
The health and economic benefits associated with the reduction of the annual average concentration of particulate matter PM10 to 50 μg/m(3) between 2010 and 2020 were estimated and disaggregated in Zonal Planning Units in Bogotá.
Materials And Methods:
BenMap® was used for determining attributable cases and their economic valuation year per year, and the results were represented spatially for every borough and zonal planning unit of the city. The study used concentration-response functions to determine the mortality cases attributable to PM10 pollution and hospitalizations related with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Results:
21,000 deaths associated with long-term exposure could be prevented for people over 30 years old and 900 deaths associated with long-term exposure for children under one year old. For children under five years old, more than 12,000 preventable hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, about 3,800 emergency room visits, over 34,000 Acute Respiratory Diseases (ARD) cases and nearly 2,500 intensive care unit visits. For people over 5 years old, about 44000 hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, 350 hospitalizations for cardiovascular diseases (people over 65 years old), and nearly 155,000 emergency room visits would be prevented.
Conclusion:
Economic benefits for 180 billion Colombian Pesos (95 million U.S. dollars) would be obtained and a benefit higher than 21 trillion Colombian pesos (11 billion U.S. dollars) in ten years, preventing attributable deaths.
