title: Survey on air pollution and cardiopulmonary mortality in shiraz from 2011 to 2012: an analytical-descriptive study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Expanding cities with rapid economic development has resulted in increased energy consumption leading to numerous environmental problems for their residents. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between air pollution and mortality rate due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Shiraz.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is an analytical cross-sectional study in which the correlation between major air pollutants (including carbon monoxide [CO], sulfur dioxide [SO2], nitrogen dioxide [NO2] and particle matter with a diameter of less than 10 μ [PM10]) and climatic parameters (temperature and relative humidity) with the number of those whom expired from cardiopulmonary disease in Shiraz from March 2011 to January 2012 was investigated. Data regarding the concentration of air pollutants were determined by Shiraz Environmental Organization. Information about climatic parameters was collected from the database of Iran's Meteorological Organization. The number of those expired from cardiopulmonary disease in Shiraz were provided by the Department of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. We used non-parametric correlation test to analyze the relationship between these parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results demonstrated that in all the recorded data, the average monthly pollutants standard index (PSI) values of PM10 were higher than standard limits, while the average monthly PSI value of NO2 were lower than standard. There was no significant relationship between the number of those expired from cardiopulmonary disease and the air pollutant (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Air pollution can aggravate chronic cardiopulmonary disease. In the current study, one of the most important air pollutants in Shiraz was the PM10 component. Mechanical processes, such as wind blowing from neighboring countries, is the most important parameter increasing PM10 in Shiraz to alarming conditions. The average monthly variation in PSI values of air pollutants such as NO2, CO, and SO2 were lower than standard limits. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the average monthly variation in PSI of NO2, CO, PM10, and SO2 and the number of those expired from cardiopulmonary disease in Shiraz.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mansooreh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dehghani
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anushiravani
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shamsedini
keywords: Air pollution; Shiraz; cardiopulmonary disease