Long-term exposure to ambient ozone and respiratory health: Ozone-induced incidences of respiratory diseases

Ground-level ozone is a very strong oxidizing agent. Its concentration has been progressively increasing in recent decades. However, there is no information about its impact on public health in the Black Sea region of southern Russia. In order to identify ozone-induced complications in the state of the respiratory system, at the initial stage of investigation, a correlation analysis of the number of emergency medical calls due to respiratory dysfunctions and the ground-level ozone concentration (GLOC) was carried out. The data of the Unified Crimean Republican Territorial Emergency Care Center and the data on the registration of GLOC at the background environmental monitoring station of the Karadagsky State Nature Reserve for the period 2018–2022 were used. An analysis revealed a weak (0.27 < rs < 0.50) but highly statistically significant (p < 0.000) effect of ozone on respiratory health if its average annual concentration was above 60 µg/m3, which means that possible pronounced negative effects of ozone on vulnerable groups of the population., With a lower annual average GLOC, there was no effect of ozone on the frequency of emergencies. The study of short-term (within a month) effects of ozone demonstrates ambiguous correlations that need other approaches to the analysis of short-term ozone-induced effects. However, the statement of the established fact of ozone-induced effects and its high average annual values indicate that such a problem is relevant in this region and serves as a sufficient basis for the development of regional research and the creation of an effective system for preventive risk management of negative ozone exposure in the context of climate change.