The Influence of Particulate Matter Concentration on Health Diseases in Southeastern Türkiye: Source Regions and Associated Synoptic Conditions

This study investigates the effect of PM10 concentrations on asthma diagnoses. A Generalized Additive Model with a quasi-Poisson link was constructed to assess the effect of PM10 concentrations on asthma for different age groups (child: 15–34, adult: 35–64, elderly >64 yr). The lag effects of PM10 concentrations were investigated using the Distributed Lag Non-Linear Model. During the 2014-2018 period, asthma diagnoses due to PM10 exposure were most frequently observed in adults. A 10 µg/m³ increase in PM10 was found to be significant between lag0 and lag2. The highest value was observed at lag0 with an RR of 1.0027 (95% CI: 1.001–1.004). When examining relative risk values by age, a significant association was determined between lag0 and lag3, with the highest values observed in the adult age group (RR: 1.0029, 95% CI: 1.0010–1.0048) and in elderly people (>64 yr, RR: 1.0028, 95% CI: 1.0029–1.0053). From the external factors, Saharan originated dust significantly contributes to high PM10 concentrations, from the HYSPLIT backward trajectory results. The role of surface low over Italy and Cyprus, and strong southerly winds at the mid-level of the atmosphere play significant role in transferring suspended dust particles to southeastern of Türkiye.