Aerossóis de queimadas e internações hospitalares por doenças respiratórias em crianças no Estado do Pará.

Abstract

According to WHO, for every four deaths of children under 5 years, one is related to environmental pollution, which is equivalent to 93% of children living in environments with polluted atmosphere worldwide. This research investigated the variability of fires and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases in children under 9 years of age, in a region deeply marked by changes in land use across the planet, with consecutive years in the ranking of deforestation, followed by fire of forest biomass: the state of Para. Eighteen years of time series of climatic variables, PM2.5, AOD and health were analyzed for two Para municipalities located in regions with very different environmental and social characteristics, through an ecological study of epidemiological character. In general, the two places analyzed showed an increase in the hospitalization rate in the second semester of each year of the historical series, despite Santarem showing high numbers of these records throughout the year. The climate also played an important role in increasing the incidence of respiratory syndromes, because it makes the environment conducive to fire action, however, the results showed that years without significant climatic anomalies can also present high records of fires and PM2.5. When these relationships were analyzed in just one year and with a record of fires, a clearer combination between the investigated variables was found, with good statistical correlation, as well as a surprising and worrying increase in fires in the municipality of Santarem, even surpassing Maraba, a municipality that has always been ahead with the highest values of deforestation, fires and air pollution. Maraba perceives the effects of fires in advance, in general, two months before Santarem, and this situation is explained by the geographic location, degree of forest preservation, response to climatic fluctuations, industrial activity and public policy action. A sample taken from the time series showed that Maraba reaches, at the height of the dry season, attention and emergency levels for PM2.5, thus presenting low air quality. Santarem did not register alarming levels, but daily monitoring detected many days with levels above the permitted level, in accordance with the standards established by environmental legislation. The levels of pollution detected can increase the number of outcomes for respiratory diseases, overloading the state's public health system.