Spatial analysis of PM2.5 concentrations in Bogotá according to the World Health Organization air quality guidelines for cardiopulmonary diseases, 2014-2015.

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) points out that 3 million deaths per year caused by cardiopulmonary diseases are related to exposure to air pollution.

Objective

To estimate areas of concentration of PM2.5 in Bogotá according to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) for cardiopulmonary diseases during the period 2014-2015. Materials and methods: We conducted an ecological study with geostatistical techniques. We calculated the PM2.5 averages for six hour-periods distributed throughout the day in four time slots, which were classified according to daily and annual WHO AQG.

Results

The locality of Kennedy presented the highest concentrations of PM2.5 in all time slots. The values registered in this area classified within the daily and annual AQG showed that the locality would present an increase of 1.2% and 9% in cardiopulmonary mortality in the short and long term, respectively.

Conclusion

The time slots from 0:00 to 6:00 h y from 12:00 to 18:00 h met the annual AQG value of 10 μg/m3 in a part of the eastern zone of the city; in the rest of the city, in these same time slots, intermediate objectives 2 and 3 were met, which means increases by 9% and 3% in the cardiopulmonary mortality according to the AQG, respectively.