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4.1
2.9
Journals
Atmosphere
Special Issues
Ambient and Indoor Air Pollution Status in Africa
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Ambient and Indoor Air Pollution Status in Africa

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2022) | Viewed by 5823

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kuku Voyi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria, South Africa
Interests: respiratory diseases; air pollution; aerosol; environmental health; children's health; exposure science; Africa

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urbanization in Africa is growing at an alarming rate. It is projected that by 2050, more than 950 million people in Africa will be living in cities. Most of this movement is driven by economic and development needs without any specific policy plan by African governments. The resultant environmental challenges presented by this urbanization will be the shift in pollution sources in order to meet energy and transportation requirements. The quantitative combination of biomass burning for heating and cooking and increased traffic will negatively impact indoor and ambient air quality. Poor air quality and its impact on people is ongoing and has not been adequately addressed in Africa for both rural and urban environments. Actions need to be taken now to reduce exposure to local air pollution, and the associated health impacts, to be ready for the future. Hence, the current status of air quality in Africa, future trends, assessment methods, adopted technology, and impact on health are the subject of this Special Issue.

Dr. Kuku Voyi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • poor air quality Africa
  • ambient air quality
  • indoor air
  • source apportionment
  • health impacts
  • air quality sensors
  • air quality measurement

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1792 KiB  
Article
A Descriptive Assessment of Household Air Pollution in Rural Kitchens in Kenya
by Dennis Musyoka and Kanyiva Muindi
Atmosphere 2022, 13(12), 2115; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13122115 - 16 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1567
Abstract
Efforts to ensure households transition to modern fuels are expected to reduce household air pollution. However, exposure to toxic particles and gases in fuel stacking households remains under-researched. We implemented a household survey to identify household energy sources and assess exposure to particulate [...] Read more.
Efforts to ensure households transition to modern fuels are expected to reduce household air pollution. However, exposure to toxic particles and gases in fuel stacking households remains under-researched. We implemented a household survey to identify household energy sources and assess exposure to particulate matter with diameter of ≤5 microns (PM2.5), ≤10 microns (PM10) and select polluting gases (Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO)) in a rural community. Wood was the main cooking fuel in 94.2% (1615/1703) households with fuel stacking reported in 86.1% (1462/1703) of total households. Daily time-weighted average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were beyond World Health Organization (WHO) limits in wood-using households (189.53 (Standard deviation (SD) = 268.80) µg/m3 and 592.38 (SD = 623) µg/m3, respectively) and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) -using households (57.2 (SD = 53.6) µg/m3 and 189.86 (SD = 168) µg/m3, respectively). Only daily average CO and TVOC concentration in wood-using households exceeded recommended levels. Household socio-economic status, education level of the head of household, use of a separate kitchen and household size influenced household energy choices. Rural households using wood as the main cooking fuel are exposed to high levels of particulate matter, carbon monoxide and total volatile organic compounds. LPG-using households may not realize health benefits if stacking with polluting fuels is practiced. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient and Indoor Air Pollution Status in Africa)
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16 pages, 2238 KiB  
Article
A Social Vulnerability Index for Air Pollution and Its Spatially Varying Relationship to PM2.5 in Uganda
by Kayan Clarke, Kevin Ash, Eric S. Coker, Tara Sabo-Attwood and Engineer Bainomugisha
Atmosphere 2022, 13(8), 1169; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13081169 - 23 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3748
Abstract
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a ubiquitous air pollutant that is harmful to human health. Social vulnerability indices (SVIs) are calculated to determine where vulnerable populations are located. We developed an SVI for Uganda to identify areas with high vulnerability and [...] Read more.
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a ubiquitous air pollutant that is harmful to human health. Social vulnerability indices (SVIs) are calculated to determine where vulnerable populations are located. We developed an SVI for Uganda to identify areas with high vulnerability and exposure to air pollution. The 2014 national census was used to create the SVI. Mean PM2.5 at the subcounty level was estimated using global PM2.5 estimates. The mean PM2.5 for Kampala at the parish level was estimated using low-cost PM2.5 sensors and spatial interpolation. A local indicator of spatial association (LISA) was performed to determine significant spatial clusters of social vulnerability, and a bivariate analysis was performed to identify where significant associations were between SVI and annual PM2.5 mean concentrations. The LISA results showed significant clustering of high SVI in the northern and western regions of the country. The spatial bivariate analysis showed positive linear associations between SVI and PM2.5 concentration in subcounties in the northern, western, and central regions of Uganda, as well as in certain northern parishes in Kampala. Our approach identified areas facing both high social vulnerability and air pollution levels. These areas can be prioritized for health interventions and policy to reduce the impact of ambient PM2.5. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient and Indoor Air Pollution Status in Africa)
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