A TIME SERIES ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AIR QUALITY CONCENTRATION AND MATERNAL-NEONATAL HEALTH IN TÜRKİYE: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY BASED ON PM, NOx, SO2, AND O3 PARAMETERS

Air pollution is a significant global public health issue, and pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3 adversely affect maternal and infant health. This study aims to contribute to environmental health policies by retrospectively analyzing the relationship between air quality index values and maternal and infant mortality in Turkey from 2020 to 2025 through time series analysis. Air quality data were obtained from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, while mortality statistics were sourced from the Turkish Statistical Institute. Annual averages of air pollutants, particularly PM10 and PM2.5, were calculated, and their relationship with mortality rates was evaluated using correlation and simple regression analyses. According to normality tests, infant mortality rate and the mortality rate among women of reproductive age were normally distributed, whereas under-five mortality and live birth rates were not. Accordingly, Pearson correlation was used for normally distributed variables, and non-parametric correlation methods were applied to non-normally distributed ones. Significant associations were found between PM10 and infant mortality in 2021 and 2023 (p < 0.05), and between PM2.5 and both infant mortality in 2023 and the five-year aggregate data (p < 0.05). Other pollutants, such as NO2, NOx, and NO, also showed significant associations with infant deaths and maternal mortality in women of reproductive age (p < 0.05). The study found that exposure to PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 may increase infant mortality, while exposure to NOx and NO may contribute to increased mortality in both infants and women of reproductive age. These findings highlight the severe health risks posed by air pollution to vulnerable populations, emphasizing the urgent need for preventive measures, particularly for infants and women of childbearing age. © 2025 Proceedings of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences