Temporal Trend of PM10 and Associated Human Health Risk over the Past Decade in Cluj-Napoca City, Romania

Levente Levei,Corina Moisa,Erika Andrea Levei,Maria-Alexandra Hoaghia,Luminita Marmureanu,Marius Roman,Alexandru Ozunu,Oana Cadar

doi:10.3390/app10155331

Abstract

The human health risk associated with PM10 exposure was assessed for the residents of Cluj-Napoca city, Romania, for a best case-scenario based on the monthly average PM10 and for a worst-case scenario based on the monthly 90th percentile of PM10 concentration. As no toxicity value for PM10 was available, for the calculation of the hazard quotient, the toxicity value was considered to be equal to the annual limit value (40 µm/m3) set in the European Union (EU), and to air quality guidelines (20 µm/m3) set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The daily PM10 concentrations for the period 2009–2019, at the four monitoring stations existing in Cluj-Napoca, were obtained from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network. The annual PM10 values ranged between 20.3 and 29.5 µg/m3, and were below the annual limit value (40 µg/m3) set by European and national legislation, but above the annual air quality guideline (20 µg/m3) set by WHO. Generally, the monthly PM10 concentrations were higher from October to March than in the rest of the year. The monthly air quality index (AQI) showed the good to moderate quality of the air during the whole decade; however, there were days when the air quality was unhealthy for sensitive population groups. The air quality was more or less constant during the warm months, and improved significantly for the cold months from 2009 to 2019. In the best-case scenario, calculated using the EU annual limit value for PM10, the potential non-carcinogenic chronic health risk was present only in 2009 and 2010, but in the worst-case scenario, in each year there were periods, especially in the cold months, in which health risk was present. When considering the WHO air quality guidelines in the calculation of the health risk, the potential non-carcinogenic chronic health risk was present between October and March in each year in the best-case scenario, and in most of the months in the worst-case scenario.

Highlights

Despite the important measures taken to reduce pollutant emissions in the last few decades, air quality remains a major issue of concern all over the world [1,2]
The annual average, calculated based on daily values, ranged between 20.3 and 29.5 μg/m3, this being below the annual limit value set by the European Union (EU) legislation (40 μg/m3 ), but above the Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) set by the World Health Organization (WHO) (20 μg/m3 ) [4,29]
The PM10 concentrations for Cluj-Napoca city generally did not exceed air quality standards, this study reveals that the human health risks resulting from exposure to air pollution are still possible

Summary

Introduction

Despite the important measures taken to reduce pollutant emissions in the last few decades, air quality remains a major issue of concern all over the world [1,2]. Sci. 2020, 10, 5331 cause acute and chronic health effects, determining increased mortality and morbidity in the exposed population [3]. In Europe, air pollution is considered the most important environmental risk to human health, and one of the biggest environmental concerns [4]. In this sense, the EU air quality policy was revised based on the research data obtained through several international research projects [5]

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Conclusion