Contaminación atmosférica, tipos de tiempo y procesos respiratorios en Santander y Zaragoza

Abstract

In this study we have analyzed and compared the daily evolution (2003-2010) of three pollutants (NO2, O3, and PM10) in two Spanish cities with different geographic and socioeconomic characteristics (Santander and Zaragoza). The association between levels of pollution and atmospheric synoptic situation has also been evaluated by using weather types. Additionally, the temporal patterns followed by respiratory hospital emergency admissions and their interaction with the weather types and the air pollutants have been studied. The statistical significance of the association between air pollution and respiratory processes was assessed by creating a Poisson regression model using hospital admissions as the dependent variable. The base model used includes several covariates (meteorological factors, weather types, seasonal variation and trend of the dependent variable, population and flu epidemics), on top of which the predictor variables (the daily concentration of each pollutant) with delays of up to 7 days have been added, while also taking into consideration the residual autocorrelation in the dependent variable. The results of this study indicate that atmospheric conditions have a significant effect on air pollutant levels in the two studied cities, and that pollution affects the amount of emergency admissions for respiratory diseases, which may be relevant from a public health perspective.