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Number of MODIS fire burn scar pixels (Roy et al. 2008, Boschetti et al. 2009, 2013), representing open biomass burning frequencies, within 100 and 250 km radii around Bapong during the first measurement campaign.
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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...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... latter gives a regional (Figure 4), rather than a site specific (Figure 3) perspective on seasonal patterns. Figure 5, for the first measurement campaign. This data clearly indicates a peak in such events during late winter and early spring, which correspond with higher ambient O 3 concentrations. ...
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Good air quality is essential for both human beings and the environment in general. The three most harmful air pollutants are nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and particulate matter. Due to the high cost of monitoring stations, few examples of this type of infrastructure exist, and the use of low-cost sensors could help in air quality monitoring....
Objective
Respiratory infections are a common cause of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic airway disease, however, environmental factors such as air pollution can also contribute to these exacerbations. The study aimed to determine the correlation between pollutant levels and exacerbation risks in areas exposed to environmental pollution...
Air quality assessment is an important task, due to the adverse effects of air pollution on human health. This importance is more highlighted when it comes to exceptional events such as war. Early 2022 witnessed the start of a military conflict between Ukraine and Russia. As with any similar event, this war influences the environment in different a...
Air pollution monitoring using mobile ground-based measurement platforms can provide high quality spatiotemporal air pollution information. As mobile air quality monitoring campaigns extend to entire fleets of vehicles and embrace lower cost air quality sensors, it is important to address the quality assurance needs for validating these measurement...
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Citations
... Laban et al. (2018) reported O3 levels in northeastern South Africa, and characterized the links between observed NOx and O3 concentrations. Other works were carried out by Bencherif et al. (2020), 100 Gaudel et al. (2020), Hamdun and Arakaki (2015), Ihedike et al. (2023), Josipovic et al. (2010), Khoder (2009), Lee et al. (2021), Ngoasheng et al. (2021), Zunckel et al. (2004) in different locations in Africa to characterize O3 pollution levels. Other projects such as POLCA (POLlution des Capitales Africaines) and DACCIWA (Interactions Dynamique-Aérosols-Chimie-Nuages en Afrique de l'Ouest), have also been implemented in African capitals such as Bamako, Dakar and Yaoundé (Adon et al., 2016), Abidjan, Cotonou (Bahino et al., 2018) and have provided O3 concentration surface measurements. ...
... processes (Baldy et al., 1996;Laban et al., 2018;Martins et al., 2007;Swap et al., 2003;Tiitta et al., 2014). Biomass combustion is considered as a major source of O3 precursors in South Africa (Ngoasheng et al., 2021;Vakkari et al., 2013) and in Southern Africa (Heue et al., 2016) and may explain the O3 levels observed in dry season at LT and Sk. High O3 levels in the wet season are thought to be due to soil microbial activity (Swartz et al., 2020a) as well as long-range transport of air pollutants emitted from the industrialized Highveld region (Abiodun et al., 2014;Ojumu, 2013). ...
In the framework of the International Network to study Deposition and Atmospheric chemistry in Africa (INDAAF) program, we present the seasonal variability of atmospheric ozone concentrations at the regional scale. The contributions of local atmospheric chemistry and meteorological parameters to ozone photochemistry are investigated, as are long-term trends in ozone concentrations. Fourteen measurement sites were identified for this study, representative of the main African ecosystems: dry savannas (Banizoumbou, Niger, Katibougou and Agoufou, Mali, Bambey and Dahra, Senegal), wet savannas (Lamto, Côte d'Ivoire, Djougou, Benin), forests (Zoétélé, Cameroon, Bomassa, Republic of Congo) and semi-agricultural/arid savanna (Mbita, Kenya, Louis Trichardt, Amersfoort, Skukuza and Cape Point, South Africa). Over the period 1995–2020, monthly ozone concentrations were measured at these sites using passive samplers. Monthly averages of surface ozone range from 4.7±1.4 ppb (Bomassa) to 31.0±10.5 ppb (Louis Trichardt). Ozone levels in the wet season (in dry savanna) are higher and comparable to concentrations in the dry season (in wet savanna and forest). In East Africa, ozone levels show no marked seasonality, with higher levels in Southern Africa. In the Sahel, under the influence of temperature, ozone formation is closely linked to biogenic Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC) emissions. It is also sensitive to nitrogen monoxide (NO) emissions in the presence of high precipitation and humidity. Biogenic VOC (BVOC) emissions, anthropogenic NOx, temperature and radiation are the dominant contributors to O3 formation in wet savannas and forests. At the southern African sites, the most important parameters influencing surface ozone concentrations are humidity, temperature, VOC emissions (anthropogenic and biogenic) and NOx. At the annual scale, Katibougou and Banizoumbou sites (dry savanna) experienced a significant decrease in ozone concentrations respectively around -0.24 ppb yr-1 (-2.3 % yr-1) and -0.15 ppb yr-1 (-1.9 % yr-1). Seasonal Kendall statistical tests revealed decreasing trends of -0.07 ppb yr-1 in Banizoumbou and -0.24 ppb yr-1 in Katibougou. These decreasing trends are consistent with those observed for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and biogenic VOCs. A significant increasing trend is observed in Zoétélé, with the Sen slope estimated at 0.1 ppb yr-1 and at Skukuza (Sen slope = 0.3 ppb yr-1). The increasing trends are consistent with the increase in biogenic emissions at Zoétélé and NO2 levels at Skukuza. Very few surface O3 measurements exist in Africa, and long-term results presented in this study are the most extensive for the studied ecosystems.
... To contextualize the exposure measurements in Khayelitsha and Marconi-Beam, the measured concentrations were compared to the national ambient air quality standards (Table 1). However, the comparisons are difficult and not straightforward to make because none of the two studied pollutants observed in Table 1 have monthly standard limit values [48]. However, to this end, PM 2.5 summer concentration in the Khayelitsha neighbourhood ranged from 1 µg/m 3 to 16 µg/m 3 . ...
Introduction: South Africa has the highest ambient air pollution exposure associated with morbidity in the Sub-Saharan region, accounting for a total number of 14356 confirmed cases of mortality on an annual basis. The study assessed air pollution exposure levels of Khayelitsha and Marconi-Beam neighbourhoods that are not monitored by the fixed-site monitoring station provided by the government.
Materials and methods: Weekly ambient air pollution measurements of Particulate Matter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) were collected at households in neighbourhoods of Khayelitsha and Marconi-Beam during the summer and winter seasons. PM2.5 measurements were collected
using Mesa Labs GK2.05 (KTL) cyclone attached to a GilAir Plus air sampling pump. Gases of NO2 were measured using passive diffusive samplers. Data were recorded on a Microsoft Excel 2016 spreadsheet. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 28.0. The outcome of the seasonal exposure levels will be compared with the South African ambient air quality standards to ascertain the risk of potential exposure to significant levels of PM2.5 and NO2 that are hazardous to human health.
Results: The results suggest that summer NO2 concentrations in the Khayelitsha neighbourhood ranged between (0 and 28 µg/m3 ), while in winter NO2 concentrations nearly doubled. A similar trend was observed regarding PM2.5 behaviour with summer overall exposure level of 7 µg/m3 and 13 µg/m3 during winter.
Conclusion: Whilst there are no legislative guidelines to compare the measured weekly average results, the concentrations were still lower than the World Health Organization (WHO), and South African air quality standards values for PM2.5 and NO2 pollutants.
An umbrella review study was conducted to establish a baseline of published air pollution and health research studies in the Waterberg-Bojanala Priority Area (WBPA). Forty peer-reviewed research studies were included based on the systematic search criteria. Less than ten studies considered air quality and health in the WBPA (as opposed to only air quality) and of these studies, only a few collected human health data in relation to air pollution exposure. Identified studies together showed that air quality is a problem in the WBPA, with ambient air quality levels often exceeding national ambient air quality standards. Based on the findings, we recommend that more focused health studies be conducted in the WBPA to better understand the air pollution-related health burden at the population and the individual level. Such studies will help bolster the baseline evidence of the impacts of air pollution on human health and wellbeing in the WBPA and support decision-making in the future.
One of the groups of pollutants in the atmosphere is Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAHs). PAHs compounds are currently extensively studied due to their harm to human and ecosystem health. Biomonitoring using plants was currently introduced as an alternative to monitoring pollutants through active air sampling to minimize the bias effect of the short-term active air sampling. Biomonitoring is also considered an effective technique to be applied in developing countries for the reason that it can avoid the high cost of instrumental monitoring. Previous studies from the last decade were analyzed to gain insight into current practices, progress, and challenges. In addition, content analysis was employed to systematically characterize and classify the existing biomonitoring application. Therefore, the emphasis in this review will be placed on the use of bioaccumulation and biomarker responses in the plants as monitoring tools for PAH concentrations for the ecosystem and its limitations.KeywordsPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)BiomonitoringAir pollutionPersistent organic pollutants (POPs)
The Greater Bandung or Bandung Basin is a metropolitan area surrounding Bandung City, the Capital of The West Java Province. It is a basin-shaped region surrounded by mountains and has more than 8.5 million population. Therefore, air quality degradation will significantly impact the regions’ sustainability. Air pollution monitoring is required to get information regarding air quality and its seasonal variability. We carried out a monthly sampling of ambient air using the Ferm-type passive gas sampler method adopted by CSIRO Australia at eleven monitoring points from 2014 to 2018. Air pollutant concentration values in urban site were determined by averaging concentration in Cikadut, Cipedes, Kopo, Kebon Kalapa, Martadinata Soreang and Padalarang, while in rural were in Ciparay, Lembang, Tanjung Wangi and Dago. The air quality parameters measured were NO2, SO2, and O3. The five-year mean NO2 and SO2 concentrations in urban (71.87 ± 35.36 and 6.72 ± 1.84 µg/m3) were relatively higher than in rural (35.06 ± 14.60 and 3.79 ± 1.27 µg/m3) sites. On the contrary, the mean O3 concentration was relatively more elevated in rural (21.86 ± 9.23 µg/m3) than in urban (17.60 ± 6.55 µg/m3) sites. The composition in ambient air from high to low was NO2 > O3 > SO2. The seasonal mean NO2 and O3 concentrations in the Bandung Basin were maximum during the transitional dry to wet season (SON) and minimum during the wet season (DJF). We reported that the annual mean NO2 concentrations in the urban site during the 2014–2018 period were above Indonesian National Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).KeywordsAir qualityBandung BasinPassive samplerUrbanRural
