Assessment of mortality attributable to air pollution in municipalities included in the four Sites of National Interest for remediation in Tuscany (Italy)

Abstract Sites of National Interest for Remediation (SNIs) are characterised by contamination of soil and groundwater by numerous hazardous substances with concentrations that exceed environmental risk thresholds for human health; furthermore, air pollution is a non-negligible risk factor. The aim of this study is to perform an Integrated Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (IEHIA) tool to estimate the air pollution impacts on human health in the areas hosting the four Tuscan SNIs (period 2013–2022). For each pollutant considered (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 ) Population-Weighted Exposure (PWE) and Attributable Deaths (ADs) were calculated considering the difference between the PWE and the latest air quality guidelines suggested by the World Health Organization (2021-AQG). The PWE values for all the SNIs were 10.5 μg/m 3 , 19.1 μg/m 3 , and 18.3 μg/m 3 for PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 , respectively. The ADs from natural causes attributable to annual exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 were 229, 92, and 90, respectively. The results highlighted higher levels of PWE than the 2021-AQG with ADs accounting approximately 5% of the natural mortality in all the four SNIs. IEHIA supports for environmental and health policies and territorial planning. The authors recommend the adoption of prevention measures aimed at mitigating air pollution in SNIs.