Abstract
Air pollution is the deterioration of the natural composition of air by products that are formed as a result of various chemical processes. This deterioration adversely affects biological diversity and natural life. Air pollutants which cause air pollution have negative effects on human health depending on their exposure time, concentration and chemical properties. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the levels of sulfur dioxide, which is one of the molecules that cause air pollution, on deaths in the city center of Kırklareli. The research sample has been constituted of 1381 non-contagious natural death cases between the ages of 18-85, which took place on the dates between 01.02.2014 and 31.01.2019 in the city center of Kırklareli. Data about sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels were obtained from the air quality monitoring network website of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. Determination of the distribution of sulfur dioxide levels by months in stated dates and their relation with the number of deaths have been carried out by using SPSS 22.0 software. It is obviously seen from the research results that although the sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels in some months between 2014 and 2019 were above the limit value set by the World Health Organization (WHO), the annual averages remained below those limit values. The evaluation, interpretation and comparison of the relationship between the changes in the number of deaths by years and the annual average sulfur dioxide levels have been accomplished by considering these limit values.