%0 Journal Article %A Snezhana P. Kostova and Krassi V. Rumchev and Todor Vlaev and Silviya B. Popova %D 2012 %J International Journal of Environmental and Ecological Engineering %B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology %I Open Science Index 71, 2012 %T Using Copulas to Measure Association between Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases %U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/15542 %V 71 %X Air pollution is still considered as one of the major environmental and health issues. There is enough research evidence to show a strong relationship between exposure to air contaminants and respiratory illnesses among children and adults. In this paper we used the Copula approach to study a potential relationship between selected air pollutants (PM10 and NO2) and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases. Kendall-s tau and Spearman-s rho rank correlation coefficients are calculated and used in Copula method. This paper demonstrates that copulas can be used to provide additional information as a measure of an association when compared to the standard correlation coefficients. The results find a significant correlation between the selected air pollutants and hospital admissions for most of the selected respiratory illnesses. %P 703 - 708