Study on ambient concentrations of air quality parameters - Integrated ...

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 1, No 7, 2011 © Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing Association Research article

ISSN 0976 – 4402

Study on ambient concentrations of air quality parameters (O3, SO 2, CO and PM10) in different months in Shiraz city, Iran Mansouri.B 1 , Hoshyari.E 1 , Mansouri.A 2 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran 2 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Kurdistan, Iran [email protected]

ABSTRACT More pollutants in the air influence on human health. The air pollutants emission problem has received a lot of public attentions and academic researchers in the past decades. The objective of this study is to investigate of monthly variations of ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM10) in Shiraz city, Iran. For this reason, data of mean monthly air pollutants from two stations of pollution monitoring stations were analyzed. The concentrations of these parameters were monitored by continuous monitoring equipment for a period of four years (from 2006 to 2009). There were significant monthly variations in concentrations of air quality parameters. Results showed that mean monthly concentration CO and PM10 were higher at station 2 than station 1, and also that concentration PM10 in warm seasons was higher than cold seasons. The air quality monitoring data collected in city center of Shiraz showed seasonal variations for sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and PM10 concentrations. Keywords: Air quality parameters, air pollution, Shiraz City, monthly variations, human health 1. Introduction Quality of the air is one of the basic indicators of the overall quality of the environment. Air pollution has become a local as well as a regional issue of big cities, industrial centers and surroundings of transport routes, especially roads and highway (Hrdlickova et al., 2008). The increasing development of human activities has given rise to a significant increase in atmospheric pollutants which may have an impact on human health (Atash, 2007). Many developing countries have experienced a progressive degradation in air quality as a consequence of rapid development over the last three decades (Agrawal et al., 2003). In the cities of developing countries, the environmental problems are much greater, because of the overwhelming scale and speed of urbanization (Atash, 2007). In particular, the levels of air pollutants are increasing rapidly in urban areas in many mega cities of the developing world (Agrawal et al., 2003). It is well known that air pollution can harm human health (Zhang et al., 2007). The increased risks were observed mainly for the population exposed to urban air which is affected predominantly by traffic emissions, emissions from household heating and industries (Skarek et al., 2007). Air pollution is one of the most serious environmental problems in Iran, In Iran, urban air pollution is the result of emissions from a multiplicity of sources, mainly stationary, industrial and domestic fossil fuel combustion, motor vehicles emissions and ineffective environmental regulations.

Received on March, 2011Published on May 2011

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Study on ambient concentrations of air quality parameters (O3, SO2, CO and PM10) in different months

Adverse effects of air pollution include an increase in cardiovascular and respiratory deaths among elderly people as well as increased hospital admissions for heart and respiratory diseases (Harrabi et al., 20006). A large number of recent epidemiological studies have observed a negative impact of ambient particle concentrations on human health including increases in respiratory symptoms and diseases (Franchini and Mannucci, 2007), hospital and emergency department admissions (Chen et al., 2007) and mortality (Qian et al., 2007). Adverse effects of air pollution on human health and a close relationship between the levels of air pollution and increased frequencies of certain diseases have been proved by numerous epidemiological studies (Skarek et al., 2007). Over the past decade, many epidemiologic studies have found associations between ambient air pollutant levels and nonaccidental daily total mortality (Yang et al., 2004). Researchers have reported associations between chronic exposure to traffic and adverse cardiovascular health effects including hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and mortality (Allen et al., 2009). There is good evidence of the relationship between urban air pollution and morbidity and mortality and that children may be especially susceptible to the effects of air pollution, especially particulate pollution (Jalaludin et al., 2004). There is an increasing interest in the impact that chronic exposure to ambient air pollution has upon both cardiac and respiratory health (Wheeler et al., 2008). In clinical studies, ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and dust have been shown to exacerbate asthma, primarily by augmenting airway inflammation (Wilson et al., 2004). The objective of this paper is to investigate of monthly variations of ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and PM10 and their trends in Shiraz city, Iran. 2. Materials and Method 2.1 Site Description Shiraz is the capital city of Fars Province, located in the south of Iran. Its latitude and longitude coordinates are from 29° 37' N and 52° 32' E, respectively. It has a moderate and mountainous climate. Its average rainfall is 335 mm and unevenly distributed throughout the year. Shiraz experiences rather cold winters and there are usually rainfalls in autumn (Nov and Dec), winter (Jan, Feb and Mar) and spring (Apr and May), with the highest in Feb and Mar. Summer in Shiraz is fairly hot. The height of Shiraz city is 1486 m above sea level. The average annual temperature is 18 ºC with the warmest month in Jul (high average 38.1 ºC) and the coldest in Jan (low average 0.7 ºC). The sunlight of the month is 109 h. The average annual wind is 13 m/s. 2.2 Methods An air quality monitoring station has been established in Shiraz city by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Iran. It is a continuous air quality monitoring station in the Shiraz. It 2s located in the city centre with high traffic. The monitoring stations were fully automated and provided daily readings of ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and PM10. The concentrations of these parameters were monitored by continuous monitoring equipment (UV absorption O3 analysermodel 400A, fluorescent SO2 analysermodel 100A, gas filter correlation CO analysermodel 300). The inlets of sampling are located approximately 5 m above the ground at station. Oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate differences between the air quality parameters (O3, SO2, CO and dust) of the city centre of Shiraz (period of four years), by Turkey’s Honest. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) were used when calculating Mansouri .B, Hoshyari .E, Mansouri. A International Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 1 No.7, 2011

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correlations among these parameters. These are because of normalization of data. Data analyses were carried out using the statistical package SPSS (Release 18). 3. Results and Discussions While outdoor concentrations have generally fallen in recent decades in the cities of Western Europe and North America, there have been increases in urban air pollution concentrations in many cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America (Ashmore and Dimitroulopoulou, 2009). In many cities of developing countries, the levels of air pollutants often exceed toxic limits and adversely affect human health, vegetation and built cultural heritage (Singh et al., 2005). Air pollution has become one of the most visible environmental problems in some city of Iran. Air pollutant sources of Iran classifies into three categories: (1) motor vehicles; (2) factories, workshops and power plants; and (3) business, domestic and miscellaneous sources (Atash, 2007. Motor vehicles (traffic) are the major source of air pollution in most parts of Iran. Another important source of air pollutants in Iran is combustion of fuels for heating of buildings. Thus, it seems that air pollutants in the heating and nonheating seasons are different. Monthly mean ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and PM10 concentrations at air quality monitoring station during 20062009 is shown in Table 1, 2, 3 and 4. The concentrations of air quality parameters were monthly different in 20062009. Air monitoring conducted in Shiraz has shown that the minimum and maximum O3 concentration ranged from 0.004 (in Dec) to 0.105 ppm (in Apr), PM10 from 31.72 (in Jan) to 141.02 µg/m 3 (in Jul), SO2 from 0.103 (in Apr) to 0.198 ppm (in Oct), CO from 3.05 (in Oct) to 6.91 ppm (in May) in 2006. Also, the concentrations of air quality parameters were different in the different month in 2007. In this year, the minimum and maximum O3 concentration ranged from 0.004 (in Jan and Dec) to 0.021 ppm (in Sep), PM10 from 39.84 (in Jan) to 168.14 µg/m 3 (in Jul), SO2 from 0.052 (in Jun) to 2.86 ppm (in Nov), CO from 1.95 (in Oct) to 6.67 ppm (in Jan). Result has shown that the minimum and maximum O3 concentration ranged from 0.003 (in Nov) to 0.023 ppm (in Jun), PM10 from 35.18 (in Jan) to 227.69 µg/m 3 (in Jul), SO2 from 0.14 (in Nov) to 0.33 ppm (in Sep), CO from 1.59 (in Jun) to 4.8 ppm (in Jul) in 2008. Also in 2009, the minimum and maximum O3 concentration ranged from 0.004 (in Dec) to 0.03 ppm (in Jul), PM10 from 30.61 (in Jan) to 332.61 µg/m 3 (in Jul), SO2 from 0.009 (in Dec) to 0.171 ppm (in Jan), CO from 1.11 (in Apr) to 3.48 ppm (in Feb). From the meteorological data it is clear that rains were frequent in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr and Dec, and hence some of the pollutants including O3 and PM10, showed lower values during these months. In Jun, Jul and Aug, however, O3 formation increased with a longer sunshine period. In general, there are many more studies that have reported positive associations between ambient air pollution and respiratory symptoms and asthma medication use. A few studies have demonstrated associations between ozone concentrations and lower respiratory symptoms (Jalaludin et al., 2004). Among various gaseous air pollutants, association of ozone with adverse respiratory health effects is well reported. Exposure to ozone may increase the allergic response to aeroallergens by increasing the permeability of the airways and also by altering the immune response to allergens (Parnia et al., 2002; Adhikari et al., 2006). The level of SO2 observed in the present study is higher to that of Yang et al. (2004), but O3 and CO levels are low. Also, the level of O3 and PM10 observed in the present study is higher to that of Adhikari et al. (2006). The level of CO observed in the present study is higher to that of Pourmahabadian and Mansouri (2006). The main source of CO concentration in Shiraz city is traffic. Hence the main force to decrease the citizens exposure to the air pollutants must be focused on improving public transportation, traffic and renew the fleet (Pourmahabadian and Mansouri, Mansouri .B, Hoshyari .E, Mansouri. A International Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 1 No.7, 2011

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2006). Dust is an exception among these parameters, because the dust originates from the Iraqi deserts and covers west and south (Fars province) of the country for months. One of the most important issues regarding the dust is that the government of Iran cannot restrict the arrival of it to Iran. When dust arrives to Shiraz, It is not possible to see anything for a distance of over 200300 meters, showing the problem is not easy to remedy. Table 1: Mean pollutant concentrations during different seasons at different sites in Shiraz city 2006 (S1) 2006 (S2) Month Season O3 PM10 SO2 CO O3 PM10 SO2 CO ppm ppm µg/m 3 ppm ppm ppm µg/m 3 ppm 0.011 31.72 0.131 3.72 0.005 52.22 0.173 5.41 Winter Jan 5.3 Feb 0.012 35.32 0.111 3.78 0.01 70.71 0.185 53.9 0.158 5.27 Mar 0.016 46.71 0.124 3.39 0.01 6.87 Spring Apr 0.021 37.13 0.103 3.21 0.105 58.49 0.145 6.91 May 0.023 59.76 0.125 3.33 0.014 87.81 0.15 0.029 42.98 0.137 3.24 0.017 99.04 0.154 6.42 Jun 0.03 61.6 0.151 3.28 0.017 141.02 0.147 6.5 Summer Jul 5.99 Aug 0.024 53.3 0.166 3.47 0.016 98.26 0.152 6.21 Sep 0.021 45.09 0.182 3.38 0.012 89.74 0.167 Autumn Oct 0.016 44.29 0.198 3.05 0.008 92.09 0.187 5.71 6.41 Nov 0.011 37.78 0.188 3.4 0.005 83.06 0.189 5.59 Dec 0.009 46.78 0.175 3.2 0.004 96.07 0.174 Overall mean (±SD)

0.018 45.21 0.14 3.37 0.018 85.2 0.16 (0.007) (9.3) (0.03) (0.2) (0.02) (24.6) (0.01)

6.04 (0.5)

Table 2: Mean pollutant concentrations during different seasons at different sites in Shiraz city Season Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Overall mean (±SD)

Month O3 ppm Jan 0.008 Feb 0.008 Mar 0.009 Apr 0.008 May 0.009 Jun 0.008 Jul 0.016 Aug 0.02 Sep 0.021 Oct 0.015 Nov 0.009 Dec 0.008 0.011 (0.004)

2007 (S1) PM10 SO2 µg/m 3 ppm 41.43 0.261 40.3 0.256 39.89 0.271 69.98 0.098 71.32 0.054 74.69 0.052 79.65 0.134 56.75 0.181 55.77 0.253 52.82 0.277 48.13 0.286 44.73 0.242 56.2 0.197 (14.3) (0.08)

2007 (S2) CO O3 PM10 SO2 ppm ppm µg/m 3 ppm 0.004 39.84 0.136 3.6 3.19 0.012 49.64 0.15 53.9 0.158 3.19 0.012 2.17 0.009 74.58 0.164 2.18 0.015 77.78 0.173 2.62 0.015 112.4 0.175 2.22 0.016 168.14 0.162 1.99 0.016 98.35 0.172 0.013 99.03 0.204 2.2 1.95 0.009 105.98 0.234 2.31 0.005 98.02 0.235 2.26 0.004 87.95 0.217 2.49 0.011 88.8 0.181 (0.5) (0.004) (34.2) (0.03)

Mansouri .B, Hoshyari .E, Mansouri. A International Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 1 No.7, 2011

CO ppm 6.67 6.5 5.27 6.51 6.02 5.61 4.92 4.39 4.87 4.37 5.5 4.86 5.45 (0.8)

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Spring

Summer

Autumn

Overall mean (±SD)

Month O3 ppm 0.009 Jan 0.011 Feb 0.011 Mar 0.019 Apr May 0.018 0.023 Jun 0.022 Jul 0.021 Aug 0.014 Sep 0.009 Oct 0.003 Nov 0.004 Dec

2008 (S1) PM10 SO2 µg/m 3 ppm 35.18 0.21 52.3 0.23 52.3 0.23 97.99 0.25 94.28 0.24 110.99 0.23 131.06 0.24 67.45 0.25 91.88 0.26 52.07 0.25 32.27 0.14 38.87 0.21

CO ppm 1.99 1.96 1.95 1.96 1.85 1.59 1.8 1.93 1.63 1.79 1.72 2.06

O3 ppm 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.013 0.011 0.012 0.014 0.011 0.011 0.007 0.005 0.006

2008 (S2) PM10 SO2 µg/m 3 ppm 64.61 0.21 91.78 0.22 99.87 0.25 146.32 0.29 165.44 0.28 194.31 0.27 227.69 0.3 115.44 0.31 152.14 0.33 100.11 0.19 83.34 0.16 91.38 0.18

0.013 71.38 0.22 1.85 0.009 127.7 (0.006) (32.7) (0.03) (0.1) (0.002) (49.5)

0.24 (0.05)

CO ppm 4.15 4.1 4.13 4.58 4.51 4.54 4.8 4.13 3.52 4.36 3.79 4.15 4.23 (0.3)


Spring

Summer

Autumn

Overall mean (±SD)

2009 (S1) PM10 SO2 CO O3 µg/m 3 ppm ppm ppm 30.61 0.138 1.61 0.006 65.31 0.068 1.66 0.008 78.2 0.121 1.35 0.012 69.39 0.119 1.11 0.014 66.88 0.139 1.36 0.019 73.57 0.142 1.32 0.024 156.25 0.151 1.37 0.02 93.89 0.151 1.39 0.016 112.56 0.153 1.3 0.012 50.98 0.167 1.22 0.01 33.94 0.014 2.88 0.009 34.48 0.009 3.3 0.004 0.11 1.65 0.11 72.17 0.012 (0.05 (0.69 (0.05) (36.1) (0.006) ) )

Mont O3 h ppm Jan 0.008 Feb 0.008 Mar 0.013 Apr 0.015 May 0.018 Jun 0.023 Jul 0.03 Aug 0.027 Sep 0.022 Oct 0.02 Nov 0.019 Dec 0.009

2009 (S2) PM10 SO2 µg/m 3 ppm 73.68 0.176 142.12 0.063 173.7 0.018 140.71 0.015 154.38 0.018 185.14 0.015 332.61 0.016 214.58 0.016 190.78 0.013 125.03 0.019 80.07 0.01 80.51 0.01 157.7 (71.7)

0.03 (0.04)

CO ppm 3.44 3.48 3.26 3.04 2.55 2.37 2.71 2.75 2.61 2.68 3.28 3.64 2.98 (0.4)

The correlation coefficients of air quality parameters are shown in Table 5 and 6. There were significantly negative correlation between SO2 concentrations and the PM10 concentrations (P