Hygienic assessment of aerogenic exposure to particulate matter and its impacts on morbidity with respiratory diseases among children living in a zone influenced by emissions from metallurgic production

At present an outstanding task is to concentrate on chemical and fractional structure when examining and assessing influence exerted by particulate matter on morbidity among children. The main goal of any such research is to prevent negative effects produced on the respiratory organs. Our research objects were ambient air in residential areas contaminated with particulate matter that were components in emissions from non-ferrous metallurgic enterprises (the test territory) and ambient air in residential areas free of such contamination; morbidity among children was also given our attention. Our assessment of ambient air quality as per РМ10 and РМ2.5 contents revealed they exceeded the standards recommended by the WHO and were by 1.4 times higher than recommended MPCa.d. Respirable fraction of particulate matter tends to have complicated chemical structure and contains metals that are specific for emissions from metallurgic enterprises such as nickel, copper, iron, aluminum, titanium, gallium, and neodymium. The latter can enhance negative effects produced by particulate matter on the respiratory organs. Epidemiologic assessment in a contaminated zone (the test territory) allowed establishing 1.8 times higher general and primary morbidity as per respiratory organs diseases than on the reference territory; it was even up to 14.8 times higher as per specific nosologies such as chronic disease of tonsils and adenoids, asthma, and status asthmaticus. We also established authentic dependence between probability of respiratory diseases and elevated concentrations of particulate matter in ambient air. Results of the proven dependence allow predicting up to 500/1000 additional respiratory diseases cases per year on the test territory; all these additional morbidity cases among children are associated with aerogenic exposure to particulate matter.