Respiratory and general health complaints in subjects exposed to sandstorm at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Sultan Ayoub Meo,Mohammad Fahad A Al-Kheraiji,Ziyad Fahad AlFaraj,Nasser Abdulaziz Alwehaibi,Ahmad Adnan Aldereihim

doi:10.12669/pjms.292.3065

Sultan Ayoub Meo, Mohammad Fahad A Al-Kheraiji + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.292.3065

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Abstract

Sandstorms are metrological events and frequently occur in many regions throughout the world. Sandstorms are a main source of long-distance transport of dust, air pollution and cause various health problems. This study aimed to investigate the acute respiratory and general health complaints in subjects exposed to sandstorm at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The present descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the period March 2011- June 2012. We selected 517 (308 males, 59.58%) and (209 females, 40.42%), apparently healthy volunteers with mean age 28.6± 3.14 years, who had single outside exposure to sandstorm for the period of 24±2.68 minutes. The acute respiratory and general health complaints were recorded through a comprehensive questionnaire. A large proportion of the subjects who were exposed to sandstorm had complaints of cough 247 (47.77%), runny nose 264(51.06%), wheeze 173(33.46%), acute asthmatic attack 108 (20.88%), eye irritation / redness 252(48.74%), headache 179 (34.62%), body ache 199 (38.5%), sleep disturbance 157(30.36%) and psychological disturbances 194 (37.52%). Exposure to sandstorm causes cough, runny nose, wheeze, acute asthmatic attack, eye irritation / redness, headache, body ache, sleep and psychological disturbances. These results indicate that sandstorm is a prolific source of respiratory and general ailments. It is therefore, suggested that an unnecessary exposure to sandstorm must be avoided.

Highlights

Sandstorms called dust storms occur frequently and periodically under the strong winds blowing the dust from the dry deserts of the globe, especially in the Middle East
Human health is adversely affected by air pollution due to sandstorm; especially respiratory system is the primary target for air pollutants, and produces a wide range of acute and chronic effects either as a single risk factor or more often in combination with other external agents
Air pollutants interact with other environmental exposures such as allergens, microorganisms that influence the overall impact of air pollutants on human health

Summary

Introduction

Sandstorms called dust storms occur frequently and periodically under the strong winds blowing the dust from the dry deserts of the globe, especially in the Middle East. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sandstorms usually occur during late February to mid July with a frequency of about 2-3 sandstorm episodes per month. The Sahara-Sahel region of Africa is the largest source of soil dust contributing approximately one billion metric tons of dust annually to the global atmosphere.[1]. Sandstorms carry various types of dust and biological particles which travel across the continents.[2,3] The primary pollutants are directly emitted into the atmosphere, whereas, the secondary pollutants are generated from chemical reactions with other pollutants in the atmosphere. The sandstorms facilitate long-distance dispersal of dust-associated biological particles

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