Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

PM10 Levels and Prevalence of Respiratory Diseases in Communities around the Cement Industries

Timothy N. Njagi, Faridah H. Were, John O. Onyatta, Godfrey A. Wafula

Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology · pp. 11–23 · Published 1 Apr 2023

10.9734/ajee/2023/v20i3439

Abstract

In the atmosphere, particulate matter of 10 microns (µm) or less in diameter (PM10) is an indicator of air pollution. Their harmful health effects on humans range from minor irritation to chronic respiratory infections. PM10 levels were assessed in the ambient air including the incidences of respiratory diseases among communities around the cement industries in Athi River Township in Kenya. The PM10 levels were collected for three consecutive days from five sites in Athi River and the control during the rainy and dry seasons. They were analyzed using the gravimetric technique. The prevalence levels of respiratory diseases were evaluated in the community health facilities during the same period. The PM10 levels ranged from 111.1–740.7 µg/m3 and 37.0–351.9 µg/m3 across the Athi River sites and were significantly (p <0.05) higher than those of the control site that ranged from 9.2–15.3 µg/m3 and 10.2–13.5 µg/m3during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. The study established negative correlations between PM10 levels and wind speed besides temperature. On the contrary, positive correlations were observed between PM10 and relative humidity during both seasons. Overall, the communities across the Athi River Township experienced a significantly (p<0.05) higher number of consultation visits and hospital admissions for various respiratory diseases than the control community. The upper and lower respiratory tract infections were more pronounced in the Athi River during the dry than in the rainy seasons. This study calls for comprehensive research and collaborative efforts towards the establishment of environmental-health-driven programs to reduce PM10 levels and related respiratory impacts among communities.

Community hospital admission out-patient services pm10 respiratory diseases

References (16)

  1. 1 Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution: A Review [DOI]
  2. 2 Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries [DOI]
  3. 3 Mitigation strategies for reducing air pollution [DOI]
  4. 4 External Environmental Pollution as a Risk Factor for Asthma [DOI]
  5. 5 Prediction of maximum of 24-h average of PM10 concentrations 30h in advance in Santiago, Chile [DOI]
  6. 6 Effect of Exposure to Cement Dust among the Workers: An Evaluation of Health Related Complications [DOI]
  7. 7 Effects of Airborne Particulate Matter on Respiratory Health in a Community near a Cement Factory in Chilanga, Zambia: Results from a Panel Study [DOI]
  8. 8 Evaluation of Contamination and Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals Associated with Cement Production in Ewekoro, Southwest Nigeria [DOI]
  9. 9 Levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5 and Respiratory Health Impacts on School-Going Children in Kenya [DOI]
  10. 10 Effects of Population Weighting on PM10 Concentration Estimation [DOI]
  11. 11 Dust Emission Monitoring in Cement Plant Mills: A Case Study in Romania [DOI]
  12. 12 Risk assessment of fine particulate matter exposure attributed to the presence of the cement industry [DOI]
  13. 13 Relationship between Meteorological and Air Quality Parameters and COVID-19 in Casablanca Region, Morocco [DOI]
  14. 14 Ventilation impairment of residents around a cement plant [DOI]
  15. 15 RETRACTED: Identification of cement in atmospheric particulate matter using the hybrid method of laser diffraction analysis and Raman spectroscopy [DOI]
  16. 16 Ambient Air Quality Monitoring and Audit over Athi River Township, Kenya [DOI]

Cited by 2

PROBLEMS OF HYGIENIC ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT-HEALTH SYSTEM

N. Smagulov · Modern Technologies and Scientific and Technological Progress · 2024

From Solid Rock to Airborne Risk: Evaluating Air Pollution in the Road Metal and Building Stone Quarry Industry

Dileep Geddam, Viswanadha Kumar Giduturi, Srinivasa Rao Davala · Ecology, environment & conservation · 2024

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

2

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.