Background

In recent years, increasing dust storms from western neighboring countries of Iran influenced western and central parts of the country. In this case, level of concentration of atmospheric particulate matter greater than 10 μm (PM₁₀) remained higher for several days compared to the levels before the event. Accordingly, Suspended particulate matters of dust storms in western Iran have caused PM₁₀ pollution in Sanandaj (capital of the Iranian province of Kurdistan) and other Iranian cities. The present study aimed to evaluate possible effects of dust storms on incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases among residents of Sanandaj.

Materials and methods

Dust storm events defined based on the Environmental Protection Administration and Meteorological Announcements, 21 March 2009 to 21 June 2010. Data related to the dust events associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were obtained from the Center for Disaster and Emergency Medicine of Sanandaj, Iran. PM10 concentration and air quality data were obtained from air quality monitoring agency of Kurdistan Provincial Directorate of Environment Protection. Daily PM₁₀ measurements were performed automatically according to β-ray absorption. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Also, linear regression model was used to investigate the relationship between variables.

Results

The average PM₁₀ levels during dust episodes (187 μg/m³) were significantly higher than the other days (48.7 μg/m³). In addition, correlation coefficient between PM₁₀ level and number of cardiovascular and emergency service during dust events were equal to 0.48 (P <0.05) and 0.19 (P >0.05) respectively.

Conclusion

Our findings showed significant increase in emergency admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases during dust storms episode in Sanandaj. Although correlation between respiratory diseases and dust storm events were statistically insignificant (0.19), numbers of cardiovascular diseases were significantly correlated with dust storm events (0.48).