Clean Air Journal最新文献

{"title":"Assessing SO2, NO2 and O3 in rural areas of the North West Province","authors":"Morongoa Morongoa Ngoasheng, J. Beukes, P. V. van Zyl, J. Swartz, Victor Loate, Portia Krisjan, Sandile Mpambani, M. Kulmala, V. Vakkari, L. Laakso","doi":"10.17159/caj/2021/31/1.9087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2021/31/1.9087","url":null,"abstract":"Air quality monitoring has been lacking in the rural and western North West Province. Here ambient sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) concentrations, monitored with passive samplers at 10 sites, are presented. Widespread SO2 and NO2 problems weren’t observed. However, regular O3 standard limit exceedances are likely across the province. Increased SO2 and NO2 concentrations in the colder and drier months were evident. Inversion layer trapping of low-level emissions during the colder months and open biomass burning in the drier months increased ground level pollutant concentrations. Wet deposition of SO2 and NO2, and enhanced SO2 conversion to particulate sulphate, result in lower wet season concentrations. O3 concentrations were lower from May to July and higher from August to March. Three phenomena contributed to this. Firstly, shorter daylight hours (less photochemistry) and secondly, lower biogenic volatile organic compound (O3 precursors) concentrations during the colder months. Thirdly, the late winter/early spring open biomass burning peak lead to elevated carbon monoxide (CO) concentration (also an O3 precursor). Spatial patterns indicated higher SO2 concentrations in the west, due mainly to industrial emissions. The NO2 spatial map indicated two areas of higher concentration, i.e. Bapong in the east due mainly to industrial emissions, and Taung with its higher population density. The O3 spatial map was almost the inverse of NO2. The lower O3 and higher NO2 around Taung showed that O3 is titrated there. Additionally, the results indicate that non-point source emissions of NO2 are high enough to results in exceedances of the O3 standard limit. Overlay back trajectory maps showed that sites in the east are more frequently impacted by pollution transported from the Mpumalanga Highveld, Vaal Triangle and the Johannesburg-Pretoria megacity if compared to the west. Conversely, cleaner air masses impact the west more than sites in the east.","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48218322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Commentary: The Ghana Urban Air Quality Project (GHAir): Bridging air pollution data gaps in Ghana","authors":"C. Sewor, Akua A. Obeng, A. Amegah","doi":"10.17159/caj/2021/31/1.11172","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2021/31/1.11172","url":null,"abstract":"Air pollution has been recognized as a pressing sustainability concern seeing that it is directly mentioned in two SDG targets: SDG 3.9 (substantial reduction of health impacts from hazardous substances) and SDG 11.6 (reduction of adverse impacts of cities on people) (Rafaj et al., 2018). Air pollution, both ambient and indoor, is known to contribute significantly to the global burden of disease, contributing to a majority of non-communicable disease-related deaths in low to middle-income countries in Africa and Asia (WHO, 2016). In 2018, air pollution was attributed to 28,000 deaths in Ghana (Odonkor and Mahami, 2020).","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46584671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Commentary: Opportunities for the application of low-cost sensors in epidemiological studies to advance evidence of air pollution impacts on human health","authors":"B. Wernecke, C. Wright","doi":"10.17159/caj/2021/31/1.11219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2021/31/1.11219","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction Every year, air pollution is associated with more than 7 million deaths globally (Forouzanfar et al., 2016). It is one of the top environmental health risks in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) (Joubert et al., 2020). Ambient and household air pollution (HAP) threaten human health and well-being, particularly for vulnerable groups such as infants and children, women, people with pre-existing diseases and the elderly (Forouzanfar et al., 2016).","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47275840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intra-urban variability of PM2.5 in a dense, low-income settlement on the South African Highveld","authors":"Simon D. Moletsane, Farina Lindeque, B. Language, N. Nkosi, J. A. Adesina, R. Burger, G. Mkhatshwa, S. Piketh","doi":"10.17159/CAJ/2020/31/1.9413","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/CAJ/2020/31/1.9413","url":null,"abstract":"High concentrations of the ambient particulate matter remains a concern on the South African Highveld, particularly in densely populated low-income settlements. These areas have several local emission sources that contribute to poor air quality and are often located close to industrial and other urban areas. The local sources vary in magnitude, space, and time. In South Africa, little has been done to assess the impacts of spatiotemporal variability on the credibility of using isolated ambient observations for regulatory purposes. This study aims to evaluate the intra-urban variability of ambient PM2.5 concentrations in a dense, low-income community. Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in distinct microenvironments of KwaZamokuhle were simultaneously measured at 4 sites between March and June 2018. These measurements were collected using one permanent ambient monitoring station (AMS) and a temporary network of three E-BAM monitors (Site 2, Site 3, and Site 4). The daily PM2.5 concentrations at AMS, Site 2, Site 3, and Site 4 varied from 10 to 86 µg.m-3, 10 to 103 µg.m-3, 11 to 101 µg.m-3, and 9 to 113 µg.m-3, respectively. Extreme PM2.5 concentrations which exceeded the 24h PM2.5 NAAQS of 40 µg.m-3 were seen during the cold period (May and June); meanwhile, the warm period (March and April) recorded relatively lower PM2.5 episodes across different sections of KwaZamokuhle. During May-June, the highest diurnal concentrations of hourly averaged ambient PM2.5 were recorded at Site 4, in a downward sequence, followed by Site 3, Site 2, and AMS. Furthermore, the results showed that across KwaZamokuhle, Site 4 has the highest proportion of households using solid fuels for domestic purposes (cooking and heating) (55%) and the number of informal dwellings (117 households). Therefore, the study highlights the complexity of quantifying ambient air quality in an area where several local emission sources vary in space and time. Attempts to use monitoring data from a single station to assess ambient air quality, quantify human exposure, or evaluate the potential impacts of mitigation strategies in dense, low-income settlements should be done with care.","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44113751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ambient air quality data reported at Sasol Secunda monitoring stations during COVID-19 lockdown – Mpumalanga, South Africa","authors":"A. Venter, S. D. Vos","doi":"10.17159/CAJ/2021/31/1.8954","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/CAJ/2021/31/1.8954","url":null,"abstract":"Various local and international research has been published on the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on ambient air quality. In most cases, a reduction in ambient NOx and PM concentrations have been observed with varying changes in ambient SO2 levels. Secunda, located in the Highveld Priority Area in Mpumalanga, South Africa is known for its large industrial facilities utilising coal as primary feedstock. The towns of Secunda and eMbalenhle provide the majority of the workforce to Sasol and has therefore been the focus of this study. The ambient air quality in the Secunda region was assessed due to the changes in human behaviour during lockdown, familiarity with the Sasol facility and the strategic locations of ambient air quality stations.Results show a clear decrease in ambient CO, NO2 and PM concentrations, especially during the first two weeks of lockdown. Only subtle changes were observed for ambient H2S and SO2 pollutant concentrations at the ambient monitoring stations. An increasing trend in all ambient species was observed towards the end and post lockdown, in contrast to declining ambient temperatures with the onset of winter. This is also contrary to the reduction in emissions from the factory that conducted annual maintenance in the month following lockdown (phase shutdown). This article concludes that human behaviour has a material local ambient impact on CO, NO2 and PM pollutant species, while H2S concentration profiles are more directly related to the industrial complex’s levels of activity. Ambient SO2 trends did not show a similar correlation with the facility’s activities (as H2S), but a stronger correlation was observed with the diverse local and regional sources in close proximity to Secunda and eMbalenhle. The influence of better dispersion especially on a local scale, brought about by more effective emission heights, is considered material. Moreover, meteorological factors, on local air quality, has been shown to be a material contributor to observed ambient air quality levels in the study domain","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43180349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling tropospheric ozone and particulate matter in Tunis, Tunisia using generalized additive model","authors":"Zouhour Hammouda, Leila Hedhili Zaier, N. Blond","doi":"10.17159/caj/2021/31/2.8880","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2021/31/2.8880","url":null,"abstract":"The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the sensitivity of tropospheric ozone and particulate matter concentrations to changes in local scale meteorology with the aid of meteorological variables (wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, solar radiation and temperature) and intensity of traffic using hourly concentration of NOX, which are measured in three different locations in Tunis, (i.e. Gazela, Mannouba and Bab Aliwa). In order to quantify the impact of meteorological conditions and precursor concentrations on air pollution, a general model was developed where the logarithm of the hourly concentrations of O3 and PM10 were modeled as a sum of non-linear functions using the framework of Generalized Additive Models (GAMs). Partial effects of each predictor are presented. We obtain a good fit with R² = 85% for the response variable O3 at Bab Aliwa station. Results show the aggregate impact of meteorological variables in the models explained 29% of the variance in PM10 and 41% in O3. This indicates that local meteorological condition is an active driver of air quality in Tunis. The time variables (hour of the day, day of the week and month) also have an effect. This is especially true for the time variable “month” that contributes significantly to the description of the study area.","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67500651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying potential particulate matter intake dose in a low-income community in South Africa","authors":"B. Wernecke, R. Burger, B. Language, C. Wright, S. Piketh","doi":"10.17159/caj/2021/31/2.9426","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2021/31/2.9426","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding how exposure to particulate matter impacts human health is complex. Personal exposure is a function of the pollution concentrations measured at any given place and time. The health impacts of this exposure are, amongst other factors, determined by how high pollutant concentrations are and what enters the body. This study considered data gathered in the winter of 2013 in a low-income community on the Mpumalanga Highveld, South Africa, which is a geographical area known for its high air pollution levels. Time-activity data collected by GPS monitors worn by individuals in the community were used to understand in which microenvironments people spend most of their time. Eight days’ worth of ambient, indoor and personal particulate matter measurements were paired with individual GPS positioning data for one study participant. We identified pollutant concentrations where the person spent time and how much particulate matter was potentially inhaled in specific micro-environments. Participants spent time in five main micro-environments: (highest rank first) inside a house, directly outside a house, on a dirt road, on a tar road, and on an open field. Exposure to particulate matter concentrations in these micro-environments exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Highest exposure was measured inside the dwelling and directly outside the dwelling. When comparing directly- and indirectly derived time-weighted potential intake doses, directly derived intake doses were higher and more likely to represent particulate matter concentrations inhaled by the participant. This study suggests that people living in communities on the Mpumalanga Highveld are exposed to unacceptably high air pollution levels in places in which they spend most of their time. Direct exposure and intake dose assessments are an essential element of environmental health studies to supplement data collected by stationary monitors.","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67500723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Air Pollution and Its Impacts on Health in Africa - insights from the State of Global Air 2020","authors":"Joanna L Keel, Katherine D. Walker, Pallavi Pant","doi":"10.17159/caj/2020/30/2.9270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2020/30/2.9270","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42379995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A summary of the paper “Natural archives of long-range transported contamination at the remote lake Letšeng-la Letsie, Maloti Mountains, Lesotho”","authors":"N. Rose, A. Milner, J. Fitchett, Kristy E. Langerman, Handong Yang, S. Turner, A. Jourdan, James Shilland, C. Martins, A. C. Souza, C. Curtis","doi":"10.17159/caj/2020/30/2.9273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2020/30/2.9273","url":null,"abstract":"Lake sediments and wetland peats provide valuable archives of changes in anthropogenic inputs into natural ecosystems. Sediments of remote mountain lakes are particularly useful because contaminants in these settings are solely derived from atmospheric deposition. This study presents the first historical record of contamination for Lesotho, a hydrologically important region in southern Africa, exporting about 35% of the water used in the Gauteng/Mpumalanga urban-industrial complex in South Africa.","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45685713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low-cost sensors, an interesting alternative for air quality monitoring in Africa.","authors":"F. Rahal","doi":"10.17159/caj/2020/30/2.9223","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/caj/2020/30/2.9223","url":null,"abstract":"In Algeria, the lack of continuous measurement of air pollution is a real problem that hinders studies, strategies and decisionmaking to fight against this phenomenon. Indeed, the pollution measurement networks installed by the public authorities in the main urban centers of the country (Rahal et al., 2014) are no longer operational. This situation in Algeria is just one example among many in developing countries where the monitoring of air quality is in a deplorable state (Kumar et al., 2019), because this monitoring is a costly policy, which requires sufficient and sustainable financial means. Furthermore, the technical skills to maintain and operate the instrumentation of measuring equipment are scarce.","PeriodicalId":37511,"journal":{"name":"Clean Air Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43942474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}