{"title":"Exposure to airborne pollutants in urban and rural areas: levels of metals and microorganisms in PM10 and gaseous pollutants in ambient air","authors":"Uguru Hilary, Essaghah Arthur Efeoghene, Akpokodje Ovie Issac, Rokayya Sami, Fadi Baakdah, Sunil Pareek","doi":"10.1007/s11869-024-01644-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Assessing air quality is a crucial health concern due to an increase in human activities. This study examined the concentrations of heavy metals (HMs), harmful gaseous compounds and microbial load in rural and urban regions’ outdoor atmospheric air. Eighty atmospheric samples were sampled randomly from 16 locations (8 locations each from urban and rural areas) in southern Nigeria; and their HMs, gaseous compounds (SO<sub>2</sub>, CO, NO<sub>2</sub>, VOC, CH<sub>4</sub> and NH<sub>3</sub>), and microbial levels were determined in accordance with standard procedures. The results revealed that the pollutants level in air sampled from urban areas, was significantly higher than the level recorded at the rural areas (<i>p</i> < 0.05). It was noted that Fe had the highest concentration (mean ∼ 2.448 µg/m<sup>3</sup>) and mercury (Hg) had the lowest concentration (mean ∼ 7.0 × 10<sup>− 3</sup> µg/m<sup>3</sup>). The heavy metals concentration in the outdoor PM<sub>10</sub> followed this increasing pattern: Hg < Cd < Ni < As < Co < Cr < Pb < Zn < Fe; and the gaseous components - SO<sub>2</sub>, CO, NO<sub>2</sub>, VOC, CH<sub>4</sub> and NH<sub>3</sub> – levels in the atmospheric samples were 15.13 ± 10.19, 177.48 ± 114.81, 11.65 ± 4.85, 3544.50 ± 1752.70, 2048.00 ± 978.35 and 855.98 ± 323.73, respectively. Likewise, these microorganisms, <i>Escherichia coli</i>,<i> Salmonella</i>,<i> Staphylococcus aurius</i>,<i> Aspergillus</i> spp and <i>Penicillium</i> spp were isolated from the outdoor atmospheric samples. The presence of HMs, gaseous compound and harmful microorganisms in outdoor PM<sub>10</sub> highlights the importance of minimizing atmospheric emissions and maintaining good hygiene practices to reduce the health risk associated with exposure to these pollutants. Therefore, town planners and relevant professionals should device means of decongesting the traffic volume in urban areas, and installing adequate waste management systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49109,"journal":{"name":"Air Quality Atmosphere and Health","volume":"18 2","pages":"317 - 332"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Air Quality Atmosphere and Health","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-024-01644-w","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Assessing air quality is a crucial health concern due to an increase in human activities. This study examined the concentrations of heavy metals (HMs), harmful gaseous compounds and microbial load in rural and urban regions’ outdoor atmospheric air. Eighty atmospheric samples were sampled randomly from 16 locations (8 locations each from urban and rural areas) in southern Nigeria; and their HMs, gaseous compounds (SO2, CO, NO2, VOC, CH4 and NH3), and microbial levels were determined in accordance with standard procedures. The results revealed that the pollutants level in air sampled from urban areas, was significantly higher than the level recorded at the rural areas (p < 0.05). It was noted that Fe had the highest concentration (mean ∼ 2.448 µg/m3) and mercury (Hg) had the lowest concentration (mean ∼ 7.0 × 10− 3 µg/m3). The heavy metals concentration in the outdoor PM10 followed this increasing pattern: Hg < Cd < Ni < As < Co < Cr < Pb < Zn < Fe; and the gaseous components - SO2, CO, NO2, VOC, CH4 and NH3 – levels in the atmospheric samples were 15.13 ± 10.19, 177.48 ± 114.81, 11.65 ± 4.85, 3544.50 ± 1752.70, 2048.00 ± 978.35 and 855.98 ± 323.73, respectively. Likewise, these microorganisms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aurius, Aspergillus spp and Penicillium spp were isolated from the outdoor atmospheric samples. The presence of HMs, gaseous compound and harmful microorganisms in outdoor PM10 highlights the importance of minimizing atmospheric emissions and maintaining good hygiene practices to reduce the health risk associated with exposure to these pollutants. Therefore, town planners and relevant professionals should device means of decongesting the traffic volume in urban areas, and installing adequate waste management systems.
期刊介绍:
Air Quality, Atmosphere, and Health is a multidisciplinary journal which, by its very name, illustrates the broad range of work it publishes and which focuses on atmospheric consequences of human activities and their implications for human and ecological health.
It offers research papers, critical literature reviews and commentaries, as well as special issues devoted to topical subjects or themes.
International in scope, the journal presents papers that inform and stimulate a global readership, as the topic addressed are global in their import. Consequently, we do not encourage submission of papers involving local data that relate to local problems. Unless they demonstrate wide applicability, these are better submitted to national or regional journals.
Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health addresses such topics as acid precipitation; airborne particulate matter; air quality monitoring and management; exposure assessment; risk assessment; indoor air quality; atmospheric chemistry; atmospheric modeling and prediction; air pollution climatology; climate change and air quality; air pollution measurement; atmospheric impact assessment; forest-fire emissions; atmospheric science; greenhouse gases; health and ecological effects; clean air technology; regional and global change and satellite measurements.
This journal benefits a diverse audience of researchers, public health officials and policy makers addressing problems that call for solutions based in evidence from atmospheric and exposure assessment scientists, epidemiologists, and risk assessors. Publication in the journal affords the opportunity to reach beyond defined disciplinary niches to this broader readership.