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The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment
Air pollution is one of the leading global public health risks but its magnitude in many developing countries’ cities is not known. We aimed to measure the concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm (PM(2.5)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and ozone...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515709/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26184273 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120708075 |
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author | Kirenga, Bruce J. Meng, Qingyu van Gemert, Frederik Aanyu-Tukamuhebwa, Hellen Chavannes, Niels Katamba, Achilles Obai, Gerald van der Molen, Thys Schwander, Stephan Mohsenin, Vahid |
author_facet | Kirenga, Bruce J. Meng, Qingyu van Gemert, Frederik Aanyu-Tukamuhebwa, Hellen Chavannes, Niels Katamba, Achilles Obai, Gerald van der Molen, Thys Schwander, Stephan Mohsenin, Vahid |
author_sort | Kirenga, Bruce J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Air pollution is one of the leading global public health risks but its magnitude in many developing countries’ cities is not known. We aimed to measure the concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm (PM(2.5)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and ozone (O(3)) pollutants in two Ugandan cities (Kampala and Jinja). PM(2.5), O(3), temperature and humidity were measured with real-time monitors, while NO(2) and SO(2) were measured with diffusion tubes. We found that the mean concentrations of the air pollutants PM(2.5), NO(2), SO(2) and O(3) were 132.1 μg/m(3), 24.9 µg/m(3), 3.7 µg/m(3) and 11.4 μg/m(3), respectively. The mean PM(2.5) concentration is 5.3 times the World Health Organization (WHO) cut-off limits while the NO(2), SO(2) and O(3) concentrations are below WHO cut-off limits. PM(2.5) levels were higher in Kampala than in Jinja (138.6 μg/m(3) vs. 99.3 μg/m(3)) and at industrial than residential sites (152.6 μg/m(3) vs. 120.5 μg/m(3)) but residential sites with unpaved roads also had high PM(2.5) concentrations (152.6 μg/m(3)). In conclusion, air pollutant concentrations in Kampala and Jinja in Uganda are dangerously high. Long-term studies are needed to characterize air pollution levels during all seasons, to assess related public health impacts, and explore mitigation approaches. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4515709 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-45157092015-07-28 The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment Kirenga, Bruce J. Meng, Qingyu van Gemert, Frederik Aanyu-Tukamuhebwa, Hellen Chavannes, Niels Katamba, Achilles Obai, Gerald van der Molen, Thys Schwander, Stephan Mohsenin, Vahid Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Air pollution is one of the leading global public health risks but its magnitude in many developing countries’ cities is not known. We aimed to measure the concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 µm (PM(2.5)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and ozone (O(3)) pollutants in two Ugandan cities (Kampala and Jinja). PM(2.5), O(3), temperature and humidity were measured with real-time monitors, while NO(2) and SO(2) were measured with diffusion tubes. We found that the mean concentrations of the air pollutants PM(2.5), NO(2), SO(2) and O(3) were 132.1 μg/m(3), 24.9 µg/m(3), 3.7 µg/m(3) and 11.4 μg/m(3), respectively. The mean PM(2.5) concentration is 5.3 times the World Health Organization (WHO) cut-off limits while the NO(2), SO(2) and O(3) concentrations are below WHO cut-off limits. PM(2.5) levels were higher in Kampala than in Jinja (138.6 μg/m(3) vs. 99.3 μg/m(3)) and at industrial than residential sites (152.6 μg/m(3) vs. 120.5 μg/m(3)) but residential sites with unpaved roads also had high PM(2.5) concentrations (152.6 μg/m(3)). In conclusion, air pollutant concentrations in Kampala and Jinja in Uganda are dangerously high. Long-term studies are needed to characterize air pollution levels during all seasons, to assess related public health impacts, and explore mitigation approaches. MDPI 2015-07-15 2015-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4515709/ /pubmed/26184273 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120708075 Text en © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Kirenga, Bruce J. Meng, Qingyu van Gemert, Frederik Aanyu-Tukamuhebwa, Hellen Chavannes, Niels Katamba, Achilles Obai, Gerald van der Molen, Thys Schwander, Stephan Mohsenin, Vahid The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment |
title | The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment |
title_full | The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment |
title_fullStr | The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment |
title_full_unstemmed | The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment |
title_short | The State of Ambient Air Quality in Two Ugandan Cities: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Spatial Assessment |
title_sort | state of ambient air quality in two ugandan cities: a pilot cross-sectional spatial assessment |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515709/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26184273 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120708075 |
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