Abstract
Air quality was measured inside 628 United Arab Emirates (UAE) personal residences. Weekly average concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and three size fractions of particulate matter (PM2.5, PMc, and PM10) were determined in each home. In a subset of the homes, measurements of outdoor air quality, ultrafine PM concentrations, and elemental PM concentrations were also made. Questionnaires were administered to obtain information on housing demographics and lifestyle habits. Air measurements were performed using simple and cost effective passive samplers. The 90th percentiles of indoor CO, HCHO, H2S, NO2, and SO2 were 1.55 ppm, 0.05 ppm, 0.12 ppm, 0.01 ppm, and 0.05 ppm, respectively. Median indoor PM2.5, PMc, and PM10, concentrations were 5.73 μg/m3, 29.4 μg/m3, and 35.2 μg/m3, respectively. The median indoor concentration of ultrafine PM was 3.62 × 1010 particles/m3. Indoor/outdoor ratios for PM were 0.44, 0.41, and 0.38 for ultrafine PM, PM2.5, and PM10, respectively. These values fall within the range of other indoor air studies findings conducted in developing countries. Air conditioning, smoking, and attached kitchens were significantly correlated with indoor levels of carbon monoxide. In addition, indoor concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were significantly correlated with vehicles parked within five meters of the home, central air conditioning, and having attached kitchens. This is the first robust indoor air quality data set developed for the UAE. This study demonstrates that screening level tools are a good initial step for assessing air quality when logistical issues (distance, language, cultural, training) and intrusion into personal lives need to be minimized.
Highlights
The discovery of vast oil resources in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has enabled its citizens to progress within the past 50 years from a semi-nomadic existence in a harsh desert environment to a thriving lifestyle with vast, ultra-modern facilities and infrastructure
Duplicate passive diffusion tubes that were deployed in 16% - 20% of homes for each gaseous pollutant had average relative standard deviations of 11%, 5%, 5%, 4%, and 8% for carbon monoxide (CO), HCHO, H2S, NO2, and SO2, respectively
Our targeted pollutants were selected based on common exposures that occupants in the UAE might encounter from sources such as infiltration of ambient air pollution from nearby industrial activity and traffic, as well as key indoor sources such as tobacco smoking and incense burning
Summary
The discovery of vast oil resources in the UAE has enabled its citizens to progress within the past 50 years from a semi-nomadic existence in a harsh desert environment to a thriving lifestyle with vast, ultra-modern facilities and infrastructure These economic and social changes were accompanied by great improvements in public health, concern exists that the rapid modernization may have created some detrimental environmental effects for the population. Input from 56 environmental health stakeholders in the UAE prioritized environmental risks and interventions based on an expanded WHO burden of disease approach [3] This effort revealed the leading concerns for mortality risks in the UAE were from exposures to ambient and indoor air pollution. As infectious diseases are reduced as important factors for human morbidity and mortality in developing countries, the effects on long-term latency diseases from environmental contamination associated with construction, production of goods, availability of private transportation, increases in consumption, etc. become more prominent concerns
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