An analysis of pesticide impact on air quality, especially surface ozone

Abstract

The present study aims at shedding some light on the serious effect of insecure pesticides to the surface ozone as a secondary pollutant resulting from some photochemical reactions during the sunny days. The temporal variation in O3 concentrations due to pesticide spray, the corresponding temperature and relative humidity have been monitored and discussed. The air quality index (AQI) for the maximum concentrations of O3 within each day of study has also been deduced. The obtained results illustrated that O3 concentrations had been increased after pesticide spray with different values from hour to hour and then began to decay after one day or more according to its concentrations. The second day had the highest concentrations of the O3 including the maximum concentration, which was recorded at hour 14 local time. Furthermore, most of AQI values were restricted between harmful and very harmful index during the second days and only the third day of the first experiment. Moreover, temperature and relative humidity have significantly influenced ozone concentrations with positive and negative correlation coefficients, respectively.