Measuring the concentration of criteria pollutants and investigation of Air Quality Index (AQI) in underpass of Emam Reza Holy Shrine, Mashhad

Subject Areas : Air Pollution

Ghasem Zolfaghari ¹ (Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Hakim Sabzevari University, Khorasan -e- Razavi, Sabzevar, Iran. *(Corresponding Author))
Mitra Mohammadi ² (Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kheradgarayan Motahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran. )
Fatemeh Arab Amery ³ (MSc, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kheradgarayan Motahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran.)

Received: 2024-06-01 Accepted : 2024-07-08 Published : 2024-07-22

Keywords: Criteria pollutants, Underpass of Emam Reza Holy Shrine, Air quality, Mashhad.,

Abstract :

Background and Objectives: Air pollution is one of the most important problems of this century, which threats human health. Air pollution causes wide spectrum acute and chronic effects of health from slight physiological disorders to death from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The objective of this study was to measure concentration of air pollutants (CO, SO2, PM2.5, and PM10) in underpass of Emam Reza Holy Shrine, Mashhad in March 2016- Oct 2016. Materials and Methods: This Study was a descriptive–analytic study. To determine the concentration of pollutants, 224 samples were collected during 8 month. CO was measured by real time monitoring instrument, Multi-RAE equipped by electrochemical sensor. Furtheremore, SO2 was measured by chemical method (H2O2 method). PM2.5 and PM10 were collected using Haz-Dust, EPAM5000 model. Then, Air Quality Index (AQI) was calculated based on the criteria pollutants’ levels (CO, SO2, PM2.5, and PM10) for three cities through linear interpolation and was classified into describing classes according to tables of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Data analysis was performed with Excel and SPSS 16 software. Findings: The most concentrations for CO (22.31 ppm), SO2 (41.26 ppb), PM2.5 (128.5 μg/m3), and PM10 (165.25 μg/m3) were in Shairazi station. The results showed that the AQI in this station was higher than Iran’s environmental protection agency standards (AQI>100). Conclusion: The air quality of the underpass of Emam Reza Holy Shrine was unhealthy in March 2016- Oct 2016. The results of the present study aimed to provide data from underpass of Emam Reza Holy Shrine as indicators of anthropogenic impacts on human health.

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