The Associations between Types of Ambient PM2.5 and Under-Five and Maternal Mortality in Africa

Abstract

Exploring the effects of different types of PM2.5 is necessary to reduce associated deaths, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Hence we determined types of ambient PM2.5 before exploring their effects on under-five and maternal mortality in Africa. The spectral derivate of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products from 2000 to 2015 were employed to determine the aerosol types before using Generalized Linear and Additive Mixed-Effect models with Poisson link function to explore the associations and penalized spline for dose-response relationships. Four types of PM2.5 were identified in terms of mineral dust, anthropogenic pollutant, biomass burning and mixture aerosols. The results demonstrate that biomass PM2.5 increased the rate of under-five mortality in Western and Central Africa, each by 2%, and maternal mortality in Central Africa by 19%. Anthropogenic PM2.5 increased under-five and maternal deaths in Northern Africa by 5% and 10%, respectively, and maternal deaths by 4% in Eastern Africa. Dust PM2.5 increased under-five deaths in Northern, Western, and Central Africa by 3%, 1%, and 10%, respectively. Mixture PM2.5 only increased under-five deaths and maternal deaths in Western (incidence rate ratio = 1.01, p < 0.10) and Eastern Africa (incidence rate ratio = 1.06, p < 0.01), respectively. The findings indicate the types of ambient PM2.5 are significantly associated with under-five and maternal mortality in Africa where the exposure level usually exceeds the World Health Organization’s (WHO) standards. Appropriate policy actions on protective and control measures are therefore suggested and should be developed and implemented accordingly.

Testing the socioeconomic and environmental determinants of better child-health outcomes in Africa: a cross-sectional study among nations

“…While there are many studies examining the conditions, interventions and policies that correlate with child-health outcomes in Africa, most are applied at subnational scales or focus on single regions or nations,13–15 and most examine one or only a few hypothesised variables at a time2 5 8 13 16–18 (online supplementary information, table S1). Indeed, a recent study mapping child growth in Africa between 2000 and 2015 identified subnational trends in stunting, wasting and underweight prevalence, but did not directly test any plausible correlates potentially driving the spatial and temporal trends 2.…”

Personal exposure to PM&lt;sub&gt;2.5&lt;/sub&gt; emitted from typical anthropogenic sources in southern West Africa: chemical characteristics and associated health risks

“…Anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants have been increasing in the last few years, leading to poor air quality in the region (IMF, 2017;Norman et al, 2007). Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 with equivalent aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 µm) is one of the major concerns of international organizations and the public because of its high health impacts related to personal exposure (Bruce et al, 2000;Chen et al, 2013;Owili et al, 2017). Owili et al (2017) found that four types of ambient PM 2.5 , including mineral dust, anthropogenic pollutants, biomass burning and mixed aerosols are significantly associated with under-five and maternal mortality in Africa.…”

“…Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 with equivalent aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 µm) is one of the major concerns of international organizations and the public because of its high health impacts related to personal exposure (Bruce et al, 2000;Chen et al, 2013;Owili et al, 2017). Owili et al (2017) found that four types of ambient PM 2.5 , including mineral dust, anthropogenic pollutants, biomass burning and mixed aerosols are significantly associated with under-five and maternal mortality in Africa. However, studies on PM 2.5 , especially tests of direct personal exposure to fine particulate matter (hereafter defined as PE PM 2.5 ) (nonstationary sampling) and its health assessment, are very limited in these low gross domestic product (GDP) countries.…”

Personal exposure to PM&lt;sub&gt;2.5&lt;/sub&gt; emitted from typical anthropogenic sources in Southern West Africa (SWA): Chemical characteristics and associated health risks

“…The southern West Africa (SWA) region has experienced an economic upturn and increasingly significant anthropogenic air pollutant emissions during the last few years and causes serious air pollution (IMF, 2017;Norman et al, 2007). Fine particulate matter (PM2.5 with equivalent aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 μm) is one of the major concerns of international organizations and publics because of the health effects associated with exposure levels, health of individuals and pollutant emission sources (Bruce et al, 2000;Chen et al, 2013;Owili et al, 2017). Owili et al (2017) found that the four types of ambient PM2.5, including mineral dust, anthropogenic pollutant, biomass burning and mixture aerosols are significantly associated with under-five and maternal mortality in Africa.…”

“…Fine particulate matter (PM2.5 with equivalent aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 μm) is one of the major concerns of international organizations and publics because of the health effects associated with exposure levels, health of individuals and pollutant emission sources (Bruce et al, 2000;Chen et al, 2013;Owili et al, 2017). Owili et al (2017) found that the four types of ambient PM2.5, including mineral dust, anthropogenic pollutant, biomass burning and mixture aerosols are significantly associated with under-five and maternal mortality in Africa. However, studies on PM2.5, especially direct personal exposure to PM2.5 (not stationary sampling) and its health effects are still limited in low income countries in this region.…”