Influencia del material particulado atmosférico sobre la mortalidad urbana: un estudio de caso en relación con el uso del suelo en la ciudad de Bogotá (Colombia)

Abstract

Air pollution generated by particulate matter (PM) is an environmental problem of great importance, since it is a risk factor that can have a significant negative impact on people's health. The objective of this research work was to analyze the influence of atmospheric PM on mortality in the context of land use in the localities of Suba, Usaquén, Barrios Unidos, Kennedy and Tunjuelito in the city of Bogotá (Colombia); during the period between the years 2008-2018. For this, a validated data series of PM10 and PM2.5 (daily and annual), corresponding to six air quality monitoring stations, was consolidated. A daily mortality increase (DMI) was considered for all causes and at all ages (0.57% for each 10 µg/m3 increase in PM10). Such information was analyzed under an hourly, daily, monthly and annual temporality. The spatial distribution of PM and DMI was also analyzed taking into account land cover, land use, urban density, and socioeconomic stratification within a radius of influence of 1600 m. The temporal analysis showed that the hour of highest concentrations of PM was 8 hours (PM10 = 67,9 µg/m3; PM2.5 = 26,7 µg/m3) possibly influenced by vehicular traffic; and the most critical days of the week were from Wednesday to Saturday (PM10 = 49,6 µg/m3; PM2.5 = 20,1 µg/m3; DMILag0 = 0.51 %). During the year, the most critical month was February (PM10 = 58,9 µg/m3; DMILag0 = 0,77 %) and March (PM2.5 = 27,6 µg/m3); and the least critical was July (PM10 = 33,8 µg/m3; PM2.5 = 11,6 µg/m3; DMILag0 = 0,14 %). At the spatial level, during the most critical month it was identified that the most and least critical area in Bogotá in terms of air quality and mortality was the south-west (PM10 = 71,6 µg/m3; PM2.5 = 21,6 µg/m3; DMILag0 = 1,42 %) and north (PM10 = 51,2 µg/m3; PM2.5 = 24,5 µg/m3; DMILag0 = 0,40 %), respectively. Additionally, an inversely proportional relationship was identified between the vegetation cover and the PM (R²-PM10 = 0,690; R²-PM2.5 = 0,758), as well as with the DMI (R²-DMILag0 = 0,693). A directly proportional relationship was also identified between urban density and the PM (R²-PM10 = 0,965; R²-PM2.5 = 0,849), as well as with the DMI (R²-DMILag0 = 0,986). The present research work allowed to identify the correlations that the land cover and land use presented with the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5, and consequently in the DMI; variables that were distributed differentially and by sector in the city of Bogotá.