ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Effects of Toxic Air Pollutants
and Environmental Health on Public Health
in Saudi Arabia
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1
Assistant Professor of Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz
University for Health Science, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center's
(KAIMRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2
Department of Emergency Medical Services, Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, College for Emergency Medical Services,
King Saudi University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Health Services Management. College of Public Health and Health Informatics,
Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2023-07-18
Final revision date: 2023-09-22
Acceptance date: 2023-10-01
Online publication date: 2024-01-15
Publication date: 2024-02-28
Corresponding author
Amal Mousa Zaidan
Public Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Science, (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(3):2445-2455
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ABSTRACT
Environmental health is one of the public health domains determined by physical, chemical,
biological, social, and psychosocial factors. The current improvement and success in terms of technology,
society, and the provision of multiple services after the Industrial Revolution were accompanied by
a massive toll of air pollutants that were introduced and emitted into the air, causing global public health
issues. It is crucial to understand how harmful air pollutants affect ecological health and the economic
consequences of such effects. This study examined the relationship between Environmental Health
assessed by CO Carbon Monoxide per capita (CO), Public Health Expenditures per capita (PHE), Toxic
Air Pollution (PM2.5 and NO2), and Life Expectancy (LE), using the novel statistical model Bootstrap
Autoregressive Distributed Lag (BARDL), for period data from 1990 to 2022 in Saudi Arabia. Results
showed no cointegrating relationship and a negative one-way causal relationship between CO, NO2,
PM2.5, and LE. Moreover, a positive two-way causal relationship was found between PHE and LE.
Saudi Arabia initiated several strategies that aim to reduce environmental pollution and improve the
overall quality of air, a step that will promote healthy living and have a vast positive economic impact
in the long run.