Regional Air Pollutants Trends for Association with Airborne Diseases Over Mississippi Region Using Meteorological Parameters and Modeling

The industrial, commercial, and transportation activity surrounding off-shore and on-shore of Gulf of Mexico has apparent impact on the urban air quality of southern regions of US such as Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Some of the air pollutants of concern are particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and Ozone caused by the emissions from sources such as cars, power plants, chemical plants, industrial boilers, power plants, oil refineries. In particular, the population in the urban areas over the US southern regions is likely to be exposed to higher levels of air pollutants under certain weather conditions and meteorological conditions. Air Quality levels are strongly affected by weather, while air borne diseases are also aggravated by meteorological conditions. In human beings, health related diseases like asthma are of much concern in addition to climate sensitive diseases such as malaria and smog. It is important to investigate and understand the interplay between air pollutants, meteorological parameters, and health. In the present study, we present a detailed study of the long term and spatial variations of air pollutants such as particulate matter and Ozone in selected regions of Mississippi – Northern, Central, and Southern. The health data will be collected from CDC and will be examined for any association with the observed air pollutant data and meteorological data in these regions.