The Air Quality in African Rural Environments. Preliminary Implications for Health: The Case of Respiratory Disease in the Northern Benin

Abstract

Recently, the World Health Organization's International Association for Research on Cancer classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans and puts air pollution in the same category as tobacco smoke, UV radiation, and plutonium. The ambient air is polluted by emissions from motor vehicles, industrial processes, power generation, household combustion of solid fuel, and other sources. Dust storms lead to particulate levels that exceed internationally recommended levels, especially near the Sahara. However, this source of air pollution appears to be under-studied, particularly in the literature devoted to human health impacts in West Africa. More than 50 % of the total dust emitted into the atmosphere comes from the Sahara. These aerosols contribute to increase the concentrations of particles smaller than 10 μm (PM 10 ), which are breathable particles. This study is the first designed to assess the real impact of Saharan dust on air quality and respiratory health of children in a region of West Africa. Dust events having affected the Northern Benin during the dry seasons between 2003 and 2007 were determined. The analyzed health data are the monthly rates of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI). Over the entire study period, 61 days of dust events were observed in the region. They recorded on average a daily PM 10 concentration of 1017 μg m −3 , more than 18 times higher than that calculated on all days without dust events. The study also highlighted a mean increase of 12.5 % of ALRI rates during the months recording dust events. The use of daily health data should help to refine these initial results in the future.

Visualizing Knowledge Evolution and Hotspots of Rural Environment and Health: A Systematic Review and Research Direction

“…They found that people who experienced prolonged exposure to particulates had a high prevalence of impaired lung function. De Longueville et al [17] took respiratory diseases in northern Benin as an example to explore the initial effect of air quality on health in rural Africa, and to evaluate the real impact of Sahara dust on air quality and the respiratory health of children in West Africa. In a rural area in central Greece, Kelepertzis [18] investigated the possible effects of human activities on the metal loading of surface soils and the possible effect on the chemical quality of tap water in surrounding villages.…”

Analysis of the operating parameters of a vortex electrostatic precipitator

“…Research has shown that fine particles deteriorate urban air quality and endanger human health and the ecosystem because they have the characteristics of long-term residence in the air, small grain size, large specific surface area and the ability to accumulate hazardous substances, etc [1]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an important agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), has issued a report showing that atmospheric pollution is a common and primary environmental carcinogen and humans can suffer from lung cancer after living in polluted air for a long time [2,3]. The results of epidemiological studies, both at home and abroad, have shown that fine particles can have a severe effect on the human body, such as the respiratory system, nervous system, immune system and the genome [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…F 0.05(1,2)=18.51. According to table 6, it is known that the three factors and the interactions z 1 z 2 and z 1 z 3 have a distinct influence in the experiment, so the regression equation established is also distinct.F 0.01 (1,2)=98.50.…”