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Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan

In the past few years, human health risks caused by fine particulate matters (PM(2.5)) and other air pollutants have gradually received attention. According to the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act of Taiwan’s Government enforced in 2017, “suspended particulate matter” has officially been ackno...

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Autores principales: Lin, Yuan-Chien, Shih, Hua-San, Lai, Chun-Yeh, Tai, Jen-Kuo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7700626/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33238515
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228691
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author Lin, Yuan-Chien
Shih, Hua-San
Lai, Chun-Yeh
Tai, Jen-Kuo
author_facet Lin, Yuan-Chien
Shih, Hua-San
Lai, Chun-Yeh
Tai, Jen-Kuo
author_sort Lin, Yuan-Chien
collection PubMed
description In the past few years, human health risks caused by fine particulate matters (PM(2.5)) and other air pollutants have gradually received attention. According to the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act of Taiwan’s Government enforced in 2017, “suspended particulate matter” has officially been acknowledged as a disaster-causing hazard. The long-term exposure to high concentrations of air pollutants negatively affects the health of citizens. Therefore, the precise determination of the spatial long-term distribution of hazardous high-level air pollutants can help protect the health and safety of residents. The analysis of spatial information of disaster potentials is an important measure for assessing the risks of possible hazards. However, the spatial disaster-potential characteristics of air pollution have not been comprehensively studied. In addition, the development of air pollution potential maps of various regions would provide valuable information. In this study, Hsinchu County was chosen as an example. In the spatial data analysis, historical PM(2.5) concentration data from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (TWEPA) were used to analyze and estimate spatially the air pollution risk potential of PM(2.5) in Hsinchu based on a geographic information system (GIS)-based radial basis function (RBF) spatial interpolation method. The probability that PM(2.5) concentrations exceed a standard value was analyzed with the exceedance probability method; in addition, the air pollution risk levels of tourist attractions in Hsinchu County were determined. The results show that the air pollution risk levels of the different seasons are quite different. The most severe air pollution levels usually occur in spring and winter, whereas summer exhibits the best air quality. Xinfeng and Hukou Townships have the highest potential for air pollution episodes in Hsinchu County (approximately 18%). Hukou Old Street, which is one of the most important tourist attractions, has a relatively high air pollution risk. The analysis results of this study can be directly applied to other countries worldwide to provide references for tourists, tourism resource management, and air quality management; in addition, the results provide important information on the long-term health risks for local residents in the study area.
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spelling pubmed-77006262020-11-30 Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan Lin, Yuan-Chien Shih, Hua-San Lai, Chun-Yeh Tai, Jen-Kuo Int J Environ Res Public Health Article In the past few years, human health risks caused by fine particulate matters (PM(2.5)) and other air pollutants have gradually received attention. According to the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act of Taiwan’s Government enforced in 2017, “suspended particulate matter” has officially been acknowledged as a disaster-causing hazard. The long-term exposure to high concentrations of air pollutants negatively affects the health of citizens. Therefore, the precise determination of the spatial long-term distribution of hazardous high-level air pollutants can help protect the health and safety of residents. The analysis of spatial information of disaster potentials is an important measure for assessing the risks of possible hazards. However, the spatial disaster-potential characteristics of air pollution have not been comprehensively studied. In addition, the development of air pollution potential maps of various regions would provide valuable information. In this study, Hsinchu County was chosen as an example. In the spatial data analysis, historical PM(2.5) concentration data from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (TWEPA) were used to analyze and estimate spatially the air pollution risk potential of PM(2.5) in Hsinchu based on a geographic information system (GIS)-based radial basis function (RBF) spatial interpolation method. The probability that PM(2.5) concentrations exceed a standard value was analyzed with the exceedance probability method; in addition, the air pollution risk levels of tourist attractions in Hsinchu County were determined. The results show that the air pollution risk levels of the different seasons are quite different. The most severe air pollution levels usually occur in spring and winter, whereas summer exhibits the best air quality. Xinfeng and Hukou Townships have the highest potential for air pollution episodes in Hsinchu County (approximately 18%). Hukou Old Street, which is one of the most important tourist attractions, has a relatively high air pollution risk. The analysis results of this study can be directly applied to other countries worldwide to provide references for tourists, tourism resource management, and air quality management; in addition, the results provide important information on the long-term health risks for local residents in the study area. MDPI 2020-11-23 2020-11 /pmc/articles/PMC7700626/ /pubmed/33238515 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228691 Text en © 2020 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 (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Lin, Yuan-Chien
Shih, Hua-San
Lai, Chun-Yeh
Tai, Jen-Kuo
Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan
title Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan
title_full Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan
title_fullStr Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan
title_full_unstemmed Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan
title_short Investigating a Potential Map of PM(2.5) Air Pollution and Risk for Tourist Attractions in Hsinchu County, Taiwan
title_sort investigating a potential map of pm(2.5) air pollution and risk for tourist attractions in hsinchu county, taiwan
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7700626/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33238515
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228691
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