First air quality profile of two sub-Saharan African cities finds
troubling news
Pollution up to five times over international guidelines

Date:
April 6, 2021
Source:
Earth Institute at Columbia University
Summary:
The first multi-year air-quality data on the cities of Kinshasa
and Brazzaville document rampant levels of sooty particles.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Ambient air pollution is a global public health crisis, causing more than
4.9 million premature deaths per year around the world. In Africa, it has surpassed AIDS as the leading cause of premature death. According to one
study, air pollution -- specifically, fine particulate matter (PM2.5)
-- may cause at least as many as 780,000 premature deaths annually in
Africa and worsen a significant number of diseases, including asthma,
lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.


========================================================================== Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and
Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, are both large
metropolises. However, neither Kinshasa (population 14. 3 million)
nor Brazzaville (population 2.4 million) have had comprehensive air
quality monitoring programs. There are no national ambient air quality standards in either country, according to an analysis done by the UN Environment Programme.

A new study, led by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory atmospheric scientist Daniel Westervelt and Columbia University undergraduate student Celeste McFarlane, has yielded the first-ever multi-year ambient PM2.5 dataset in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. The team deployed a cadre of low-cost sensors
and interpreted data in the context of changing weather and changing
human activity related to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. The study was
supported by two local universities and their scientists in both cities,
and is published online on Aerosol and Air Quality Research.

What it shows is concerning. During the investigation, which began in
March 2018, researchers found PM2.5 is highest during the dry season --
June, July, and August -- when it is up to five times higher than World
Health Organization guidelines. It is lower in the remaining months,
thanks in part to rainfall, but even then, it is more than four times
higher than WHO guidelines.

"Average PM2.5 concentrations suggest unhealthy levels of human exposure, which, over time, can lead to cardiopulmonary problems and premature
death," said Westervelt.

The study also found that last year's stay-at-home and lockdown directives
in response to COVID-19 corresponded to a 40% decrease in PM2.5.

"We were able to demonstrate that it is possible to robustly characterize
air quality in African megacities using well-calibrated, relatively
simple, cheap devices," Westervelt said.

He added that given the health risks from air pollution, this data is
urgently needed to draw attention to the problem. Researchers hope this
study will lead to more concerted efforts to characterize sources of air pollution and develop strategies to mitigate the negative health impacts.

Study collaborators include: Columbia University, Department of Chemical Engineering; Ecole Re'gionale postuniversitaire d'Ame'nagement et
de Gestion Inte'gre's des Fore^ts et Territoire tropicaux (ERAIFT)
Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo; World Bank Group; Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of Congo; De'partement de chimie, Universite' Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Washington State Department of Ecology; Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley; 9OSU-EFLUVE -- Observatoire Sciences de l'Univers-Enveloppes Fluides
de la Ville a` l'Exobiologie, Universite' Paris- Est-Cre'teil, France;
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow; Goddard Space Flight Center; Center
for Atmospheric Particle Studies, Carnegie Mellon University; Kigali Collaborative Research Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; and NASA Goddard Institute
for Space Studies.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Earth_Institute_at_Columbia_University. Original written by Marie DeNoia Aronsohn. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Celeste McFarlane, Paulson Kasereka Isevulambire, Raymond Sinsi
Lumbuenamo, Arnold Murphy Elouma Ndinga, Ranil Dhammapala,
Xiaomeng Jin, V. Faye McNeill, Carl Malings, R. Subramanian,
Daniel M. Westervelt.

First Measurements of Ambient PM2.5 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic
of Congo and Brazzaville, Republic of Congo Using Field-calibrated
Low-cost Sensors. Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 2021; 21 DOI:
10.4209/ aaqr.200619 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210406120656.htm

--- up 1 week, 5 days, 8 hours, 39 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)