Air Quality Program’s Research
Informs Health-Based Air-Quality Index in Mexico City
Director of Air Quality, Kevin Cromar, and his team recently published their research on the associations between ambient air pollution and respiratory morbidity in Mexico City. This research was made possible through a multiyear collaboration with the Mexico City Ministry of the Environment (SEDEMA) and their association with the Mexico City Ministry of Health (SEDESA) to obtain, for the first time, daily health records as opposed to the weekly statistics that were previously made available. The study highlights how increased health risks associated with elevated air-pollution exposure can occur over several days and that this multiday effect is different for children than for adults. These results also formed the basis of a health-based air-quality index that was developed by Cromar and his team and is currently in use in Mexico City.