Characteristics of Small and Medium-Sized Towns of the Irkutsk Region in Terms of Ambient Air Pollution and Incidence Rates in the Child Population

Abstract

Introduction: Air pollution affects human health and causes considerable damage to the economy by hindering urban development, including that of small towns inhabited by more than half of the Russian population. Objective: To characterize small and medium-sized towns of the Irkutsk Region in terms of ambient air pollution and incidence rates in the child population. Materials and methods: Ambient air pollution was assessed based on annual reports issued by the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet). Incidence rates in children living in five small and medium-sized towns of the Irkutsk Region were analyzed by 16 disease categories based on report forms and collections of the Ministry of Health for 2015–2022. We applied methods of comparative analysis, calculated health indicators, and established the significance of differences using Student’s t-test. Results: The 2021 Priority List of the Most Polluted Russian Cities included seven towns of the Irkutsk Region. In small and medium-sized regional towns from this list, high ambient concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene, formaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen dioxide, total suspended particles, and PM10 were registered, all exceeding maximum permissible levels. In 2015–2022, long-term incidence rates in children were 1.1–1.4 times higher than the national averages in the towns of Shelekhov, Usolye-Sibirskoye, and Svirsk. In all the towns under study, the number of disease categories with a high incidence among children (4–7 years of age), the list of categories, and the multiplicity of excess of the Russian rates (1.1 to 3.8 times) differ, which is determined by specifics of effects of local environmental factors. Conclusions: The levels of ambient air pollution in five small and medium-sized towns of the Irkutsk Region are assessed as very high with air pollution indices in 2022 ranging from 22 to 45. In the descending order of disease incidence in children, the regional towns were ranked as follows: Shelekhov, Usolye-Sibirskoye, Svirsk, Zima, Cheremkhovo.