Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2007, 4(2), 106-110; doi:10.3390/ijerph2007040004
Article

Identification of Regional Air Pollution Characteristic and the Correlation with Public Health in Taiwan

Cheng F. Lee* email, Jen H. Hsiao, Shin J. Cheng and Huey H. Hsieh
Department of Environment and Resources Engineering, Diwan University, 87-1, Nanshih Li, Madou, Tainan 721, Taiwan
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10 January 2007 / Accepted: 30 April 2007 / Published: 30 June 2007
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [229 KB, uploaded 16 September 2008 11:01 CEST]
Abstract: This study aims to classify regions with different air pollution characteristics into groups in Taiwan, and further to evaluate and compare the air quality of various groups. A selected multivariate analysis technique, cluster analysis, is applied to the pollution monitoring dataset which including PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3. The obtained results have proved that the regions with similar air pollution characteristic can be appropriately grouped by applying cluster analysis. All 22 regions are classified into six groups, and the pollution pattern for each group is characterized as: Group 1 (high SO2/NO2; low PM10), Group 2 (high PM10), Group 3 (high SO2/PM10), Group 4 (low SO2/NO2/CO; high O3), Group 5 (low CO/NO2; high O3) and Group 6 (low PM10/SO2/NO2/O3/CO). Results from air quality evaluation indicate that the regions in group 6 (Ilan, Hualien and Taitung) have the best air quality while the regions in group 3 (Kaohsiung and Kaohsiung City) have the worst air quality in Taiwan. The results from correlation analysis reveal that incidence of the respiratory system disease is significantly positively correlated with pollution of NO2 and CO at 99% confidence level.
Keywords: Air quality; air pollution characteristic; public health; cluster analysis; correlation analysis

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Lee, C.F.; Hsiao, J.H.; Cheng, S.J.; Hsieh, H.H. Identification of Regional Air Pollution Characteristic and the Correlation with Public Health in Taiwan. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2007, 4, 106-110.

AMA Style

Lee CF, Hsiao JH, Cheng SJ, Hsieh HH. Identification of Regional Air Pollution Characteristic and the Correlation with Public Health in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2007; 4(2):106-110.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lee, Cheng F.; Hsiao, Jen H.; Cheng, Shin J.; Hsieh, Huey H. 2007. "Identification of Regional Air Pollution Characteristic and the Correlation with Public Health in Taiwan." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 4, no. 2: 106-110.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health EISSN 1660-4601 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert