Title
Environmental pollution, climate variability and climate change: A review of health impacts on the peruvian population
Other title
ContaminaciĂ³n ambiental, variabilidad climĂ¡tica y cambio climĂ¡tico: Una revisiĂ³n del impacto en la salud de la poblaciĂ³n peruana
Date Issued
01 January 2014
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Instituto Nacional de Salud
Abstract
This article is a review of the pollution of water, air and the effect of climate change on the health of the Peruvian population. A major air pollutant is particulate matter less than 2.5 μ (PM 2.5). In Lima, 2,300 premature deaths annually are attributable to this pollutant. Another problem is household air pollution by using stoves burning biomass fuels, where excessive indoor exposure to PM 2.5 inside the household is responsible for approximately 3,000 annual premature deaths among adults, with another unknown number of deaths among children due to respiratory infections. Water pollution is caused by sewage discharges into rivers, minerals (arsenic) from various sources, and failure of water treatment plants. In Peru, climate change may impact the frequency and severity of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which has been associated with an increase in cases of diseases such as cholera, malaria and dengue. Climate change increases the temperature and can extend the areas affected by vector-borne diseases, have impact on the availability of water and contamination of the air. In conclusion, Peru is going through a transition of environmental risk factors, where traditional and modern risks coexist and infectious and chronic problems remain, some of which are associated with problems of pollution of water and air.
Start page
547
End page
556
Volume
31
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Salud pĂºblica, Salud ambiental
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84910668871
PubMed ID
Source
Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Publica
ISSN of the container
1726-4634
Sponsor(s)
National Institutes of Health R24TW009545 NIH Fogarty International Center R24TW009554 FIC
Sources of information: Directorio de ProducciĂ³n CientĂ­fica Scopus