Association between ambient air particulate matter and human health impacts in northern Thailand

• Published in: Scientific reports 2023-08, Vol.13 (1), p.12753-12753, Article 12753
• Main Authors: Supasri, Titaporn, Gheewala, Shabbir H., Macatangay, Ronald, Chakpor, Anurak, Sedpho, Surat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/499; 704/172; 704/172/4081; Air pollution; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Environmental health; Health risks; Humanities and Social Sciences; Life cycle analysis; Life cycles; Lung cancer; Lung diseases; multidisciplinary; Particulate matter; Pollution control; Public health; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39930-9

Air pollution in Thailand is regarded as a serious health threat, especially in the northern region. High levels of particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ) are strongly linked to severe health consequences and mortality. This study analyzed the relationship between exposure to ambient concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 by using data from the Pollution Control Department of Thailand and the burden of disease due to an increase in the ambient particulate matter concentrations in northern Thailand. This study was conducted using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology considering the human health damage impact category in the ReCiPe 2016 method. The results revealed that the annual average years of life lived with disability from ambient PM 2.5 in northern Thailand is about 41,372 years, while from PM 10 it is about 59,064 years per 100,000 population. The number of deaths from lung cancer and cardiopulmonary diseases caused by PM 2.5 were approximately 0.04% and 0.06% of the population of northern Thailand, respectively. Deaths due to lung cancer and cardiopulmonary diseases caused by PM 10 , on the other hand, were approximately 0.06% and 0.08%, respectively. The findings expressed the actual severity of the impact of air pollution on human health. It can provide valuable insights for organizations in setting strategies to address air pollution. Organizations can build well-informed strategies and turn them into legal plans by exploiting the study’s findings. This ensures that their efforts to tackle air pollution are successful, in accordance with regulations, and contribute to a healthier, more sustainable future guidelines on appropriate practices of air pollution act/policy linkage with climate change mitigation.