Background & Aims: Nitrogen dioxide can cause changes in the tissues of kidney, liver, and heart and also may weaken the immune system against infectious diseases. Thus, the present study was conducted with the aim of quantifying and estimating health effects attributed to NO₂ pollutant in Urmia city in 2013.

Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, after validating the hourly concentration of NO₂ according to the standards of WHO along with required primary and secondary processing, the health effects and related mortality rates were estimated by the standard software of AirQ2.2.3 based on the pollutant concentration and the exposure of people.

Results: The results of this study indicated that the average annual concentration of NO₂ in Urmia city was approximately 2.2 times greater than national standards and WHO guidelines. The total mortality, the cumulative number of mortality due to CVD, and the cumulative number of HA-COPD were estimated to be 89, 50, and 14 cases in 2013, respectively.

Conclusion; With regard to the health effects attributed to nitrogen dioxide pollutants in the air of Urmia city, the management of air pollution control and traffic engineering is absolutely necessary for this metropolis.

SOURCE: URMIA MED J 2016: 26(12): 1062 ISSN: 1027-3727