Influence of an Extreme Saharan Dust Event on the Air Quality of the West Region of Portugal

Gomes, João; Esteves, H; Rente, Luis

doi:10.3390/gases2030005

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Dry samples tend to produce more dust than moist ones. Samples that have aerosolized properties can produce dust when exposed to wind or airflow [31,32]. This can happen, for example, with powdered samples or fine powders.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particulate Matter (PM) Levels and Associated Health Risks at the Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency

Fikri,

Firmansyah,

Arlinda

et al. 2024

IJDNE

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Air quality is one of the challenges to public health. Poor air quality is caused by the presence of air pollutants. WHO mentions particulate matter (PM) as one of the main pollutants. These pollutants have varied toxicity that can threaten public health. This study aims to measure PM pollutants. This study is an effort to monitor and improve air quality in the workplace. This study falls into the descriptive category, with a focus on detailing the levels of PM2.5 and PM10. The research design chosen was cross-sectional. The quantitative data collected shows the concentration of PM collected on filter paper. Sampling was carried out at six points (environmental health laboratory, radiochemistry laboratory, basement, sauna, facilities for Technologically Enhanced Natural Radioactive Material (TENORM) testing, and a parking lot) at the Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency by grab sampling. Air sample measurements were carried out using the direct method using the DustTrak DRX-8533 TSI tool with an MCE filter. The overall measurement results of PM concentrations exceeded the established quality standards. The highest concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were 18.24 mg/m 3 outdoors. This can occur due to anthropogenic activities such as various human, household, and machine activities. Exposure to PM can cause respiratory problems (clinical codification category J00-J06 and its derivatives). Several ways can be done such as cleaning the office workspace in the morning and evening using a wet mop or vacuum pump. Air quality in the workplace needs to be monitored to create a healthy work environment and health.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particulate Matter (PM) Levels and Associated Health Risks at the Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency

Fikri,

Firmansyah,

Arlinda

et al. 2024

IJDNE

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“…AIR QUALITY GUIDELINES (Gomes et al, 2022) emphasised the importance of integrating indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring systems to achieve automated air conditioning systems capable of efficiently controlling both temperature and air cleanliness. For instance, there have been relatively few studies about desert dust impacts on air quality and human health in West Africa (de Longueville et al, 2013), despite the region's proximity to the Sahara and this dearth of data is a major constraint on our understanding of the health impacts in this region.…”

Section: Atmospheric Particulate Mattermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Saharan dust plume: Current knowledge on the impact on health, human activities, and the ecosystem, with comments on research gaps

Olarewaju

Fajinmi

Davies

et al. 2023

Preprint

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A massive amount of dust estimated at a million tons is released from the Sahara Desert each year into the atmosphere and travels over the North Atlantic Ocean, commonly referred to as the Saharan dust plume (SDP). With its ability to travel over very long distances across the sea, the SDP is of enormous global importance, affecting climatic processes, and playing a significant role in nutrient cycles, sedimentary cycles, and soil development. On the other hand, from an environmental health perspective, the SDP degrades air quality, posing serious health threats to humans, especially to people with lung conditions. Recent literature documents health issues, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and even death in extreme cases. Despite this knowledge, large uncertainties exist in our ability to predict future trends in Saharan dust emissions and model-projected atmospheric circulation patterns. Employing a comprehensive search of the recent literature, this study reviews present knowledge of the sources, composition and propagation dynamics of the SDP and the impact of its contained atmospheric particulates on health, ecosystems, and human activities to be able to formulate credible mitigation measures and unveil areas where further research is needed for improving on these formulations. A comprehensive list of the more recent references (mainly post-dating 2010) is assembled to aid the search process of those wanting to contribute to filling these important knowledge gaps.

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“…A reliable approach to confirming occurrences of SD intrusions is also the one based on measuring the PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations near the ground using contact ground-based automatic measurement stations (AMSs) for air-quality monitoring. In case of an intensive SD intrusion, the contact-measured near-ground PM10 mass concentration should increase significantly (Pederzoli et al, 2010;Aleksandropoulou and Lazaridis, 2013;Kaskaoutis et al, 2019;Milford et al, 2020;Çapraz and Deniz, 2021;Yang et al, 2021;Salvador et al, 2022;Gomes et al, 2022) due to sedimentation of the dust particulate matter, which contains mainly a coarse particle fraction (Kaskaoutis et al, 2019;Çapraz and Deniz, 2021;Yang et al, 2021;Salvador et al, 2022). Certainly, the PM2.5 mass concentration should also increase, but to a lower extent because of the lower PM2.5 content and settling rate (Milford et al, 2020;Çapraz and Deniz, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Saharan-Dust Intrusions over Sofia, Bulgaria, Using Near-Ground PM10 and PM2.5 Mass Concentration Measurements

Evgenieva,

Vakareeva,

Gurdev

et al. 2024

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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Intrusions of Saharan dust (SD) in the atmosphere over Sofia City, Bulgaria, are not a rare phenomenon. Since it can significantly affect the Earth's radiative balance, various atmospheric processes, the climate and the living conditions on the land and in the ocean, as well as the air quality, it has been the subject of large-scale studies of considerable societal and scientific interest. In the present work, results were analyzed of: concurrent measurements of near-ground aerosol PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations and the aerosol's optical and microphysical characteristics as obtained by an AERONET Cimel CE318-TS9 sun/sky/lunar photometer, the MONARCH Saharan-dust forecasting model and the HYSPLIT air-mass back-trajectory-recovering model. Data on the weather conditions in Sofia Valley and the fires in Bulgaria and neighboring countries were also considered. It was shown that the strong increases in the daily-mean PM10 mass concentration (> 50 µg m -3 or > 70 µg m -3 ) measured by a mountain ecological station are most frequently (74% and 86% of the cases, respectively) indications of relatively intense SD passages over the station. It was shown as well that during very intense Saharan dust intrusions over the region of Sofia (with dust load > 0.15-0.20 g m -2 ), the urban PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations noticeably increased, while the PM2.5/PM10 mass concentration ratio dropped down as a rule to values around 0.2 and below. The peculiarities found in the behavior of the particulate PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations contact-measured near the ground would allow one to recognize or confirm intense SD transport over Sofia and Sofia Valley.

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Influence of an Extreme Saharan Dust Event on the Air Quality of the West Region of Portugal

Cited by 12 publications

References 24 publications

Particulate Matter (PM) Levels and Associated Health Risks at the Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency

Particulate Matter (PM) Levels and Associated Health Risks at the Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency

The Saharan dust plume: Current knowledge on the impact on health, human activities, and the ecosystem, with comments on research gaps

Identification of Saharan-Dust Intrusions over Sofia, Bulgaria, Using Near-Ground PM10 and PM2.5 Mass Concentration Measurements

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