scholarly journals Source apportionment of ambient PM10−2.5 and PM2.5 for the Vaal Triangle, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 117 (5/6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luckson Muyemeki ◽  
Roelof Burger ◽  
Stuart J. Piketh ◽  
Brigitte Language ◽  
Johan P. Beukes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Biomass Combustion ◽  
Priority Area ◽  
Chromatography Analysis ◽  
Particulate Air Pollution ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
Secondary Aerosols ◽  
Vaal Triangle

The Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA), like other priority areas in South Africa, has an air pollution problem. Understanding the sources contributing to air pollution in this priority area will assist in the selection and implementation of appropriate control strategies. For this study, aerosol samples in the coarse (PM10-2.5) and fine (PM2.5) fraction were collected at four sites in the VTAPA during summer/autumn, winter, and spring. The contributing sources were identified and characterised based on the elemental and ionic compositions obtained through X-ray fluorescence and ion chromatography analysis. The highest seasonal median concentrations of PM10-2.5 (116 μg/m3) and PM2.5 (88 μg/m3) were observed in Sharpeville during the winter. The lowest median concentrations of PM10-2.5 (25 μg/m3) and PM2.5 (18 μg/m3) were detected in Zamdela during the summer/autumn period. At all sites, there was a high abundance of crustal elements in PM10-2.5 and a dominance of coal and biomass combustion-related elements in PM2.5. The Positive Matrix Factorisation receptor model identified dust-related and secondary aerosols as the major contributing sources of PM10-2.5. PM2.5 contributions were predominantly from coal burning for Sebokeng and Sharpeville and from industry, wood and biomass burning, and secondary aerosols for Kliprivier and Zamdela. The results of this study identify the main sources contributing to particulate air pollution in the VTAPA and provide local authorities with valuable information for decision-making.

scholarly journals Air Quality and Human Health among a Low Income Community in the Highveld Priority Area

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.Y Wright ◽  
R Oosthuizen ◽  
J John ◽  
R.M Garland ◽  
P Albers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Priority Area ◽  
The Impact

Human exposure to poor air quality is linked to adverse health effects. The largest burden of air pollution-related diseases is in developing countries where air pollution levels are also among the highest in the world. In South Africa, two geographic areas, the Vaal Triangle and the Highveld, have been identified for air quality managementinterventions to ensure compliance with National Air Quality Management Standards and to control potential harmful air pollution impacts on human health. The Highveld Priority Area (HPA) is characterised by intense mining, coal-fired power plants, industries, including iron and steel manufacturing, chemical plants, agricultural activity, motor vehicles and domestic fuel burning. Apart from two previous studies, no respiratory health studies have been carried out in the HPA. This paper describes the results of a recent, comprehensive study of ambient air quality, potential exposure to air pollution and air-related human health among a low income community living in the HPA in order to better understand the impact of air pollution on human health in South Africa.

scholarly journals Source apportionment of ambient fine and coarse aerosols in Embalenhle and Kinross, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola M. Walton ◽  
Stuart J. Piketh ◽  
Pieter Van Zyl ◽  
Willy Maenhaut ◽  
Roelof Burger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
South African ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Gravimetric Method ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Particulate Air Pollution ◽  
Aerosol Loading ◽  
Secondary Aerosols

The South African Highveld is recognised as a region having significant negative ambient air quality impacts with its declaration as an Air Quality Priority Area in 2007. Such areas require the implementation of specific air quality intervention strategies to address the air quality situation. A greater understanding of the composition of the atmospheric aerosol loading and the contributing air pollution sources will assist with the formulation and implementation of these strategies. This study aims to assess the composition and sources of the aerosol loading in Embalenhle and Kinross located on the Highveld. Fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5-10) aerosol samples were collected during summer and winter, which were quantified using the gravimetric method. Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (WD-XRF) and Ion Chromatography (IC) analysis were used to determine the chemical composition of aerosols. Mean PM2.5 concentrations in Embalenhle and Kinross ranged from 16.3 to 34.1 µg/m3 during winter and 7.4 to 19.0 µg/m3 during summer. Mean PM10-2.5 concentrations ranged from 10.3 to 114 µg/m3 during winter and 5.9 to 11.2 µg/m3 during summer. Si, Al, S, Na (winter only), Ca (summer only), SO42- and NH4+ were the most abundant species in PM2.5 during both seasons. In PM10-2.5, Si, Al, Na (winter only), SO42- and F- were the most abundant species during both seasons. The elements S and Ca also had high abundances at Embalenhle and Kinross, respectively, during summer. Source apportionment was undertaken using Positive Matrix Factorisation, which identified five sources. Dust, secondary aerosols, domestic combustion, wood and biomass burning, and industry were determined to be the contributing sources. Any measures to mitigate particulate air pollution on the Highveld should consider these key sources.

scholarly journals Evaluating the potential of remote sensing imagery in mapping ground-level fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the Vaal Triangle Priority Area

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luckson Muyemeki ◽  
Roelof Burger ◽  
Stuart J. Piketh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Monitoring Networks ◽  
Priority Area ◽  
Satellite Retrievals ◽  
Vaal Triangle

The quality of air breathed in South Africa is of great concern, especially in industrialised regions where PM2.5 concentrations are high. Long term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with serious adverse health impacts. Traditionally, PM2.5 is monitored by a network of ground-based instruments. However, the coverage of monitoring networks in South Africa is not dense enough to fully capture the spatial variability of PM2.5 concentrations. This study explored whether satellite remote sensing could offer a viable alternative to ground-based monitoring. Using an eight-year record (2009 to 2016) of satellite retrievals (MODIS, MISR and SeaWIFS) for PM2.5 concentrations, spatial variations and temporal trends for PM2.5 are evaluated for the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA). Results are compared to corresponding measurements from the VTAPA surface monitoring stations. High PM2.5 concentrations were clustered around the centre and towards the south-west of the VTAPA over the highly industrialised cities of Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg. Satellite retrievals tended to overestimate PM2.5 concentrations. Overall, there was a poor spatial agreement between satellite-retrieved PM2.5 estimates and ground-level PM2.5 measurements. Root mean square error values ranged from 6 to 11 µg/m3 and from -0.89 to 0.32 for the correlation coefficient. For satellite remote sensing to be effectively exploited for air quality assessments in the VTAPA and elsewhere, further research to improve the precision and accuracy of satellite-retrieved PM2.5 is required.

Detection of ultrafine particles in the lung macrophages of healthy people

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 1004-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Hatch ◽  
R. Hauser ◽  
G. B. Hayes ◽  
R. Stearns ◽  
D. Christiani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Ultrafine Particles ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Particulate Air Pollution ◽  
Lung Macrophages ◽  
Human Volunteers ◽  
Environmental Air

Modern environmental air pollution control strategies are designed to reduce airborne particulate mass by reducing the size of effluent particles to less than lOOnm. Recently, Dockery et al have clearly shown that fine-particulate air pollution (<2.5(μm) can be directly related to excess mortality in humans. Although ultrafine metal fumes (<100nm) have been shown to produce adverse effects in occupational settings, little is known of the extent to which they contribute to ambient environmental particulate air pollution. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent ultrafine particles are present in lung macrophages of healthy human volunteers studied by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI).Lung macrophages were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage from 14 current non-smokers, 7 of whom work at an oil-fired power plant but were not considered to have significant occupational exposure, 4 of whom were welders at the power plant with the possibility of metal fume (ultrafine particulate) exposure, and 3 of whom were university employees with no known occupational or environmental exposure.

SYSTEMIC EFFECT OF PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (sup3) ◽  
pp. 233-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. MacNee, X. Y. Li, P. Gilmour, K. Do
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Systemic Effect ◽  
Particulate Air Pollution
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