Air pollution and health effects: review of indicators and evaluation methods

Nowadays, the concept of outdoor air quality is gaining interest, especially considering the impacts that air pollutants have on people health. In the view of providing more sustainable cities to respond to global challenges, policy decision-makers should integrate into urban planning processes also proper solutions to safeguard people health from air pollution, making the built environment healthier and safer. To do so, proper methodological approaches are needed in order to estimate the social costs related to the health effects caused by air pollution exposure, as well as to explore significant indicators able to express them in quantitative terms. In line with this, the paper presents a literature review on the main metrics used to quantify health impacts, as well as on the most diffused socio-economic evaluation methods used to translate them into collective benefits for the society.