A Review of Studies Using Air Q Software for Prediction of Air Pollution Health Effects in Iran

Exposure to air pollutants may lead to various health effects and is a major public health issue. Concerns about these effects exist in both developed and developing countries. The Air Q software was developed to estimate the health impacts of air pollution based on reported levels of air pollutants in real world studies. In Iran several studies have been conducted to estimate human morbidity and mortality based on this software. We conducted this review to summarize articles which have predicted the effects of air pollution on human health in Iran using Air Q. We conducted a systematic search for relevant studies published until 24 April 2021 in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and SID (Scientific Information Database which includes articles in Farsi language). We applied no time or language restrictions.

A total of 44 studies out of 525 identified articles met our inclusion criteria. The main air pollutants under investigation were particulate matter (PM), NO₂, O₃, and SO₂. Most studies were conducted in metropolitan areas, such as Ahvaz (9 studies), Tehran (9 studies), and Shiraz (7 studies). In all studies, the levels of most air pollutants were higher than the 2005 WHO guideline levels and were predicted to be related to considerable health effects. However, it was not possible to aggregate the results and report the total number of casualties during these years, because studies were done in different cities with fluctuating levels of multiple pollutants and in different years and time frames. This systematic review showed that air pollution remains at unacceptably high levels resulting in substantial detrimental health effects in various Iranian cities. Using clean renewable energies, increasing human capital, and increasing green spaces and vegetation can help improve air pollution and decrease human casualties in Iran.