Background:

In southern Chile cities, the emission of air pollutants, especially the use of firewood for heating is restricted during critical air pollution periods.

Aim:

To analyze how restrictions applied during the management of air pollution critical episodes have contributed to reduce emergency room admissions for respiratory diseases in two Chilean cities between 2013 and 2019.

Material and Methods:

Poisson regression models were estimated with daily data including explanatory variables, such as the daily and lag concentration of respirable particulate material (PM10), temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed, seasonal factors, and implementation of different types of critical episodes.

Results:

The implementation of restrictions during the management of critical pollution episodes decreased emergency room admissions for upper respiratory infections and bronchial obstructive crises, especially when an environmental emergency was decreed during the critical episode. However, the effect on each group of respiratory diseases was heterogeneous between cities, which could be related to avoidance behavior, indoor air pollution, the composition of PM10, or the presence of other pollutants, and not just a reduction in the daily concentration of PM10.

Conclusions:

The management of critical pollution episodes with restrictions to pollutant emissions is a useful measure to improve population health in cities that have implemented environmental decontamination plans.