Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases During The Hajj Season in The Holy City of Makkah (original) (raw)
Related papers
Air Quality in Mecca and Surrounding Holy Places in Saudi Arabia During Hajj: Initial Survey
Environmental Science & Technology, 2014
The Arabian Peninsula experiences severe air pollution, the extent and sources of which are poorly documented. Each year in Saudi Arabia this situation is intensified during Hajj, the Holy Pilgrimage of Islam that draws millions of pilgrims to Mecca. An initial study of air quality in Mecca and surrounding holy sites during the 2012 Hajj (October 24−27) revealed strongly elevated levels of the combustion tracer carbon monoxide (CO, up to 57 ppmv) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along the pilgrimage routeespecially in the tunnels of Meccathat are a concern for human health. The most abundant VOC was the gasoline evaporation tracer i-pentane, which exceeded 1200 ppbv in the tunnels. Even though VOC concentrations were generally lower during a follow-up non-Hajj sampling period (April 2013), many were still comparable to other large cities suffering from poor air quality. Major VOC sources during the 2012 Hajj study included vehicular exhaust, gasoline evaporation, liquefied petroleum gas, and air conditioners. Of the measured compounds, reactive alkenes and CO showed the strongest potential to form ground-level ozone. Because the number of pilgrims is expected to increase in the future, we present emission reduction strategies to target both combustive and evaporative fossil fuel sources.
An Analysis of Air Pollution in Makkah-a View Point of Source Identification
2013
Makkah is one of the busiest cities in Saudi Arabia and remains busy all year around, especially during the season of Hajj and the month of Ramadan when millions of people visit this city. This emphasizes the importance of clean air and of understanding the sources of various air pollutants, which is vital for the management and advanced modeling of air pollution. This study intends to identify the major sources of air pollutants in Makkah, near the Holy Mosque (Al-Haram) using a graphical approach. Air pollutants considered in this study are nitrogen oxides (NOx), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and particulate matter with aero-dynamic diameter of 10 um or less (PM10). Polar plots, time variation plots and correlation analysis are used to analyse the data and identify the major sources of emissions. Most of the pollutants demonstrate high concentrations during the morning traffic peak hours, suggesting road traffic ...
Spatial and temporal analysis of air pollution in Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Spatial -temporal analysis of air pollutants is fundamental to the process of air pollutants related risk and damage assessment. This paper analyses spatiotemporal variability of air pollutants in Makkah, using data from 4 monitoring sites during the Hajj (Pilgrimage) 1433 (October, 2012). The analysis is based on graphical presentations, correlation analysis and analysis of variance. The analysis of variance showed significant difference (p-value < 0.05) between various monitoring sites and dates for all pollutants. Both diurnal and weekly cycles of the air pollutants demonstrated considerable variations at different sites. Correlation coefficients (R) between PM 10 concentrations measured at different monitoring sites were mostly positive and ranged from 0.01 to 0.45. Correlation analysis showed mostly negative and much weaker association between SO 2 measured at different monitoring sites (R = -0.02 to -0.21). O 3 demonstrated the strongest positive correlation between different monitoring sites and ranged from 0.55 to 0.86. The correlation coefficients of CO monitored at different monitoring sites ranged from 0.21 to 0.63, whereas those of NO and NO 2 ranged from 0.39 to 0.71 and 0.20 to 0.60, respectively. The strongest spatial correlation of O 3 is probably due to the fact that O 3 is a regional pollutant and is more related to the regional emissions of precursors and meteorological parameters. This is the first attempt to analyse the spatial variability of air pollutants in Makkah, however the study is based over a shorter period of time, therefore further work is required to analyse these trends over a greater range of time and space.
Assessment of Ambient Air Quality in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia
Concentrations of airborne particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) and five gaseous air pollutants (O3, CO, NO2, SO2 and H2S) were measured over a period of approximately six years (October 1999-June 2004) at five air quality monitoring network stations of King Abulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the quality of ambient air in relation to its possible effects on human health in the urban area of Riyadh city using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) and break down analysis of five criteria pollutants (O3, CO, NO2 and SO2 and PM10) and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S). The concentrations of selected pollutants in ambient air has shown upward trends except for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which exhibited decreasing trends over the time. Using the AQI based on a health perspective, a breakdown analysis was conducted. The results confirmed that 71% of the time Riyadh city air is of “Good” quality using the AQI and causes almost no health impacts on city inhabitants. The remaining 29% of more problematic air quality is caused by PM10 (74%) and SO2 (~24%). The study has revealed that both ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) have little contribution to Riyadh air pollution at 2% and 0.52%, respectively.
Relation between Mortality Rate and Air Pollutant Concentrations in Mashhad, 2007-2009
Iranian Journal Of Health Sciences
Air pollution has been known as one of the most effective factors on cardiovascular, pulmonary and infectious diseases. This study aims to determine the relation between mortality rate and air pollution in Mashhad during 2007-2009. Materials and Methods: Data of air pollution, mortality rate and geographic factors were collected during 2007-2009 and analyzed. Mortality rate, the average PSI of individual pollutants , temperature and moisture were weekly measured and the diagrams were then drawn according to the methods of statistical correlation and regression analysis of air pollution and mortality rate. Results: According to the findings, there was no significant relation between CO and mortality rate, but the other pollutants played a significant role in this regard. The maximum correlation was obtained for SO 2 and O 3 in the concentrations of 0.936 and 0.154 ppm, respectively, but in the final model for all pollutants and weather variables, only PSI for O 3 , season and humidity showed significant change. Conclusion: O 3 has increased during three years of research and has been the leading cause of death among the pollutants. Most deaths occurred in cold seasons. Among all pollutants, the maximum concentration of SO 2 was in winter and the maximum concentration of O 3 was in spring and summer 2009. [*Alidadi H. Shakeri M.T. Hossein zadeh H. Noorani A. The Relation between Mortality Rate and Air Pollutant concentrations in Mashhad, 2007-2009. IJHS 2013; 1(2):68-74] http://jhs.mazums.ac.ir
Tends of Air Pollution in Cairo & related Respiratory Health Risks
ABSTRACT Background:. The dramatic increase in population and industrialization in Cairo has resulted in a significant deterioration in air quality. The serious impact of air pollution in Cairo was manifested since the last 8 years in the "black smoke phenomenon" which invaded its atmosphere during the months of October and November. Methods: This study evaluated the changing trends of air quality monitoring including sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate matter less than 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter, (PM10), particulate matter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), meteorological parameters as wind stability and wind speed (W.S), in Cairo during the years 2002-2004 and their relation to respiratory health risks. Results: It was found that there was a significant association between air pollutants with the number of asthma admissions, (P> 0.001). NO2 was not found to have a significant effect on asthma admissions, (P< 0.05). There was negative correlation between wind speed and asthma admissions, (P> 0.001). Mean (+ SD) values of asthma admissions during autumn (black smoke episode) were significantly increased during the year 2002-2004 where compared to other seasons, (P> 0.001). Although there was a significant decrease of PM10 levels during the year 2004, when compared to previous two years, (F=15.82, P=0.000), levels of SO2 and PM2.5 did not change significantly allover the three years. Vehicles, industrial and burning emissions were the largest sources of particulate matter pollution in Cairo. Open Burning contributes roughly 20% to more than 30% through the months of years, but during air pollution episode, more than 45% of particulate matter was due open burning. Conclusions: 1-fluctuations in concentrations of SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 are strongly enunciated with patterns of attend once at emergency departments for acute asthma. Recommendations: Although Particulate Matter Concentrations have follow since the introduction of Cairo Air Improvement Programs in 1999, ambient air levels are still beyond the recommended air quality standards and vigorous efforts must be done to decrease burning emissions in order to improve air quality in Cairo.
Evaluation of the effect of air pollution on human health in Kuwait
1994
Even before the 1990 war the populations of some areas of Kuwait was subject to severe atmospheric pollution. However, little was known about the effect of this pollution on health and on the use of health care. Three areas in Kuwait were chosen for study which were demographically similar and lay at a different distances to the north (i.e. usually downwind) of the industrial area. Plant in this area emits hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and carbon monoxide among other pollutants. A special survey was carried out to gather information on demographic, health and lifestyle factors including age, sex, place of residence, smoking, physical symptoms, psychological effects, life satisfaction, environmental problems, experience of air pollution and use of health care. A random sample of 136 households (1140 persons) was chosen from the three areas and studied over the period from lst February 1988 to 31st January 1989. Data on levels of pollution ...
Epidemiological studies conducted in the past two decades indicate that air pollution causes increase in cardiovascular, breathing and chronic bronchitis disorders and even causes cardiovascular mortality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between meteorological parameters, air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in the city of Mashhad in 2014 by a time series model. Data on mortality from cardiovascular disease, meteorological parameters and air pollution in 2014 were gathered from Paradises organization, meteorology organization and pollutant monitoring center, respectively. Then the relationship between these parameters was analyzed using correlation coefficient, generalized linear regression, time series models and comparison of means. The results of the study showed that the highest rate of cardiovascular mortality related to Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and then PM 2.5. So that each unit increase in SO 2 , NO 2 and PM 2.5 pollutants adds to the rate of cardiovascular mortality by 22.5, 2.9 and 0.69, respectively. Pressure, wind speed and rainfall have a significant association with mortality. So that each unit decrease in pressure and wind speed, increases the rate of cardiovascular mortality by 2.79 and 15.77, respectively. It was also found that in the case of one-unit increase in rainfall, the possibility of mortality from the mentioned disease goes up by 3.8 units. It was also found that one-year increase of the age increases the mortality caused by these diseases up to 0.57 percent. Furthermore, the highest rate of cardiovascular mortality related to cold periods of the year. Therefore, considering the growing trend of air pollution and its health effects on human health, performing actions and effective solutions is important in the field of controlling and reducing air pollution in Iranian metropolis including Mashhad.
Some trends related to air pollution in Damascus
Short-term monitoring of air pollutants for 15 selected sites in Damascus city has been investigated. The following air pollutants were measured: total suspended particulate (TSP), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO). The overall average concentrations of the previous five pollutants were determined. The calculated concentrations were about 246mg/m 3 for TSP, 39mg/m 3 for SO 2 , 49mg/m 3 for NO 2 and 2.8mg/m 3 for CO. In this reported study, the TSP and the particulate with less than 10-micrometer size (PM 10 ) were the most effective pollutants in the air of Damascus city.
Environmental Pollution, 2018
Air pollution remains a major global public health and environmental issue. We assessed the levels of PM 2.5 and delineated the major sources in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) sampling was performed from February 26, 2014-January 27, 2015 in four cycles/seasons. Samples were analyzed for black carbon (BC) and trace elements (TEs). PM 2.5 source apportionment was performed by computing enrichment factors (EFs) and positive matrix factorization (PMF). Backward-in time trajectories were used to assess the long-range transport. Significant seasonal variations in PM 2.5