Air Quality Trends in Metropolitan Zones in Veracruz, México

Abstract

Mexico and currently in Veracruz state, there are metropolitan zones (MZ) growing. Therefore, main objective in this paper is to analyze new data and AQ trends during 01.09.2013 to 30.06.2015 of two new AQ monitoring stations installed in Xalapa and Minatitlan MZ in 2013-year. The methodology applied used quality criteria to the datasets, followed by data validation and statistics for further analysis to determine the hourly, weekly and yearly trends of NO 2 , O 3 , SO 2 , PM 10 and PM 2.5. Indicators were compared with Mexican standards, CAI-LAC report, WHO guidelines, EU and USA standards to evaluate the AQ in both sites. We observed AQ trends from moderate to bad in Xalapa and Minatitlan MZ where the PM 10 and PM 2.5 surpassed the WHO guidelines and Mexican standards. O 3 and SO 2 in Xalapa presented a quality from good to moderate and in Minatitlan sometimes were from moderate to bad. NO 2 did not exceed the value limits of Mexican standards, only Xalapa has exceeded the WHO guidelines. In Minatitlan, the Mexican limits were not exceeded. Concluding, PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations were the main problem. Others pollutants that influenced the AQ were O 3 , NO 2 and SO 2 in Minatitlan MZ due probably to meteorology, site conditions, location and oil and petrochemical industries. In Xalapa, MZ NO 2 and SO 2 are attributed mainly to road transport.