Source Apportionment and Assessment of Air Quality Index of PM2.5–10 and PM2.5 in at Two Different Sites in Urban Background Area in Senegal

Moustapha Kebe,Manousos Ioannis Manousakas,Ababacar Sadikhe Ndao,Vasiliki Vasilatou,Konstantinos Eleftheriadis,Ahmadou Wague,Alassane Traore

doi:10.3390/atmos12020182

Moustapha Kebe, Manousos Ioannis Manousakas + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12020182

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Abstract

Identifying the particulate matter (PM) sources is an essential step to assess PM effects on human health and understand PM’s behavior in a specific environment. Information about the composition of the organic or/and inorganic fraction of PM is usually used for source apportionment studies. In this study that took place in Dakar, Senegal, the identification of the sources of two PM fractions was performed by utilizing data on the elemental composition and elemental carbon content. Four PM sources were identified using positive matrix factorization (PMF): Industrial emissions, mineral dust, traffic emissions, and sea salt/secondary sulfates. To assess the effect of PM on human health the air quality index (AQI) was estimated. The highest values of AQI are approximately 497 and 488, in Yoff and Hlm, respectively. The spatial location of the sources was investigated using potential source contribution function (PSCF). PSCF plots revealed the high effect of transported dust from the desert regions to PM concentration in the sampling site. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first source apportionment study on PM fractions published for Dakar, Senegal.

Highlights

As many studies have shown in the past, air pollution is a significant problem due to the multiple effects it has on human health, the environment [1,2,3], and climate [4]
The average PM2.5–10 concentration at the two sites is very similar, even though they have different characteristics. This fact is an indication that anthropogenic emissions are not the dominant factor that affects particulate matter (PM) mass in the area, which is most likely affected mainly by natural sources
We can conclude that Hlm and Yoff cities are severely polluted in PM2.5–10

Summary

Introduction

As many studies have shown in the past, air pollution is a significant problem due to the multiple effects it has on human health, the environment [1,2,3], and climate [4]. Many resources and effort have been spent to reduce the particulate matter (PM) concentration levels and, their effects on human health and understand their behavior and properties in different environments [5,6]. (PM) can be separated based on their size to coarse and fine. Epidemiological studies have shown that PM2.5, due to their smaller size, can penetrate the lower tissues of the respiratory tract and induce more severe health-related issues [12]. The fine particles originate mainly from anthropogenic and combustion related activities, as well as other urban and industrial activities [14,15]

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