Indoor and outdoor PM10 levels at schools located near mine dumps in Gauteng and North West Provinces, South Africa

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Kuku Voyi¹  Janine Wichmann¹  Vusumuzi Nkosi² 

[1] School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, P.O. Box 2034, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa;School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, P.O. Box 2034, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa;Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa;

关键词: Mine dumps;    Schools;    Air pollution;    Asthma;    South Africa;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-016-3950-8

 received in 2016-06-03, accepted in 2016-12-15,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFew studies in South Africa have investigated the exposure of asthmatic learners to indoor and outdoor air pollution at schools. This study compared outdoor PM10 and SO2 exposure levels in exposed (1–2 km from gold mine dumps) and unexposed schools (5 km or more from gold mine dumps). It also examined exposure of asthmatic children to indoor respirable dust at exposed and unexposed schools.MethodsThe study was conducted between 1 and 31 October 2012 in five schools from exposed and five from unexposed communities. Outdoor PM10 and SO2 levels were measured for 8-h at each school. Ten asthmatic learners were randomly selected from each school for 8-h personal respirable dust sampling during school hours.ResultsThe level of outdoor PM10 for exposed was 16.42 vs. 11.47 mg.m−3 for the unexposed communities (p < 0.001). The outdoor SO2 for exposed was 0.02 ppb vs. 0.01 ppb for unexposed communities (p < 0.001). Indoor respirable dust in the classroom differed significantly between exposed (0.17 mg.m−3) vs. unexposed (0.01 mg.m−3) children with asthma at each school (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe significant differences between exposed and unexposed schools could reveal a serious potential health hazard for school children, although they were within the South African Air Quality Standards’ set by the Department of Environmental Affairs. The indoor respirable dust levels in exposed schools could have an impact on children with asthma, as they were significantly higher than the unexposed schools, although there are no published standards for environmental exposure for children with asthma.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017