Impact of atmospheric pollution on asthma and bronchitis based on lichen biomonitoring using IAP, IHI and GIS in Algiers Bay (Algeria)

We investigated the association between air pollution and asthma and bronchitis hospital admissions in Algiers city (Algeria). In addition, we used geographic information systems (GIS) and statistical methods to evaluate their correlation with the atmospheric pollution estimated by the lichen biomonitoring method of the index of atmospheric purity (IAP), the index of human impact (IHI) and environmental parameters. Thus, we georeferenced 976 local patients (including 771 patients with asthma and 205 patients with bronchitis). Then, we compared the patients to the spatial distribution of IAP in thirty-five areas (communities). The results revealed a significant difference in the mean spatial variation in the diseases among those areas. In fact, maps and generalized linear models (GLMs) revealed a significant negative correlation between IAP and diseases. Therefore, redundancy analysis (RDA) and Monte Carlo tests described a significant effect of IAP, urbanization and the number of roads on the distribution of diseases. We hope our findings contribute to enriching the literature on health research with a low-cost method of monitoring outdoor air pollution.