The Historical Trend of Air Pollution and Its Impact on Human Health in Campania Region (Italy)

Domenico Toscano,Fabio Murena

doi:10.3390/atmos12050553

Abstract

The Campania region covers an area of about 13,590 km2 with 5.8 million residents. The area suffers from several environmental issues due to urbanization, the presence of industries, wastewater treatment, and solid waste management concerns. Air pollution is one of the most relevant environmental troubles in the Campania region, frequently exceeding the limit values established by European directives. In this paper, airborne pollutant concentration data measured by the regional air quality network from 2003 to 2019 are collected to individuate the historical trends of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), coarse and fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and ozone (O3) through the analysis of the number of exceedances of limit values per year and the annual average concentration. Information on spatial variability and the effect of the receptor category is obtained by lumping together data belonging to the same province or category. To obtain information on the general air quality rather than on single pollutants, the European Air Quality Index (EU-AQI) is also evaluated. A special focus is dedicated to the effect of deep street canyons on air quality, since they are very common in the urban areas in Campania. Finally, the impact of air pollution from 2003 to 2019 on human health is also analyzed using the software AIRQ+.

Highlights

IntroductionAir pollution is the major environmental risk in Europe [1,2,3] and one of the most critical in the world
The Campania region covers an area of about 13,590 km2
The spatial distribution of the monitoring stations in the region is reported in Figure map of of air air quality quality monitoring monitoring stations stations in in Campania

Summary

Introduction

Air pollution is the major environmental risk in Europe [1,2,3] and one of the most critical in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that air pollution, both environmental and domestic, causes 7 million deaths per year, 5.6 million deaths from non-communicable diseases, 1.5 million from pneumonia, and 3% from cardiorespiratory mortality. The effects of air pollution on human health can be chronic (long-term) or acute (short-term). Acute effects due to short-term exposure (hours or days) to high concentrations of pollutants include respiratory and cardiovascular problems and physiological changes. The spatial distribution of the monitoring stations in the region is reported in Figure Figure 1.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion