Abstract
Concentrations of airborne particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm (PM 10 ) and five gaseous air pollutants (O 3 , CO, NO 2 , SO 2 and H 2 S) were measured over a period of approximately six years (October 1999-June 2004) at five air quality monitoring network stations of King Abulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the quality of ambient air in relation to its possible effects on human health in the urban area of Riyadh city using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) and break down analysis of five criteria pollutants (O 3 , CO, NO2 and SO2 and PM10) and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S). The concentrations of selected pollutants in ambient air has shown upward trends except for sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), which exhibited decreasing trends over the time. Using the AQI based on a health perspective, a breakdown analysis was conducted. The results confirmed that 71% of the time Riyadh city air is of “Good” quality using the AQI and causes almost no health impacts on city inhabitants. The remaining 29% of more problematic air quality is caused by PM10 (74%) and SO2 (~24%). The study has revealed that both ozone (O 3 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) have little contribution to Riyadh air pollution at 2% and 0.52%, respectively.
Highlights
Continuous monitoring and acquisition of knowledge of air pollutants are required to assess the air quality in a given location and to understand and address several environmental issues
Concentrations of air pollutants recorded by King Abulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Air Quality Monitoring Network have been used and integrated into an interpreted air quality index
The scale of the index is divided into six general categories that are associated with health messages that conveys the health implications of air quality and pollutant-specific health effects and sensitive groups, so that the precautionary actions can be taken by individuals to reduce exposures of concern[30,31]
Summary
Air pollution is one issue of growing environmental concern because of its known adverse human health effects[1,2]. Ozone (O3), a photochemical oxidant that helps to determine the atmospheric oxidizing capacity[7], can cause direct, adverse effects on human health and ecosystems[811]. Sulfuric and nitric acids as well as sulfate and nitrate aerosols are formed as a result of oxidation of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These fine aerosol particles can effectively cause visibility degradation, and modify the radiation budget by both absorption as well as scattering of solar radiation[12]. Atmospheric particles contain a variety of hazardous inorganic substances including metals and sulfur compounds
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