Brown Kathleen Ward, Bouhamra Walid, Lamoureux Denise P, Evans John S, Koutrakis Petros
Exposure, Epidemiology, and Risk Program, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2008 Aug;58(8):994-1003. doi: 10.3155/1047-3289.58.8.994.
Many studies have shown strong associations between particulate matter (PM) levels and a variety of health outcomes, leading to changes in air quality standards in many regions, especially the United States and Europe. Kuwait, a desert country located on the Persian Gulf, has a large petroleum industry with associated industrial and urban land uses. It was marked by environmental destruction from the 1990 Iraqi invasion and subsequent oil fires. A detailed particle characterization study was conducted over 12 months in 2004-2005 at three sites simultaneously with an additional 6 months at one of the sites. Two sites were in urban areas (central and southern) and one in a remote desert location (northern). This paper reports the concentrations of particles less than 10 microm in diameter (PM10) and fine PM (PM2.5), as well as fine particle nitrate, sulfate, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and elements measured at the three sites. Mean annual concentrations for PM10 ranged from 66 to 93 microg/m3 across the three sites, exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines for PM10 of 20 microg/m3. The arithmetic mean PM2.5 concentrations varied from 38 and 37 microg/m3 at the central and southern sites, respectively, to 31 microg/m3 at the northern site. All sites had mean PM2.5 concentrations more than double the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5. Coarse particles comprised 50-60% of PM10. The high levels of PM10 and large fraction of coarse particles comprising PM10 are partially explained by the resuspension of dust and soil from the desert crust. However, EC, OC, and most of the elements were significantly higher at the urbanized sites, compared with the more remote northern site, indicating significant pollutant contributions from local mobile and stationary sources. The particulate levels in this study are high enough to generate substantial health impacts and present opportunities for improving public health by reducing airborne PM.
许多研究表明，颗粒物（PM）水平与多种健康结果之间存在密切关联，这导致许多地区，尤其是美国和欧洲，空气质量标准发生了变化。科威特是一个位于波斯湾的沙漠国家，拥有庞大的石油产业以及相关的工业和城市用地。该国在1990年伊拉克入侵及随后的石油大火中遭受了环境破坏。2004年至2005年期间，在三个地点同时进行了为期12个月的详细颗粒物特征研究，其中一个地点额外进行了6个月的研究。两个地点位于城市地区（中部和南部），一个位于偏远的沙漠地区（北部）。本文报告了直径小于10微米的颗粒物（PM10）和细颗粒物（PM2.5）的浓度，以及在这三个地点测量的细颗粒物硝酸盐、硫酸盐、元素碳（EC）、有机碳（OC）和元素。三个地点的PM10年均浓度范围为66至93微克/立方米，超过了世界卫生组织（WHO）规定的PM10空气质量准则20微克/立方米。中部和南部地点的PM2.5算术平均浓度分别为38和37微克/立方米，北部地点为31微克/立方米。所有地点的PM2.5平均浓度均超过美国国家环境空气质量标准（NAAQS）规定的PM2.5浓度的两倍以上。粗颗粒物占PM10的50%至60%。PM10的高水平以及构成PM10的大部分粗颗粒物，部分原因是沙漠地壳中的灰尘和土壤重新悬浮。然而，与偏远的北部地点相比，城市化地点的EC、OC和大多数元素含量显著更高，这表明当地移动和固定源对污染物的贡献很大。本研究中的颗粒物水平高到足以对健康产生重大影响，并为通过减少空气中的PM来改善公众健康提供了机会。
