Department of Geography, FUNDP, University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium.
Int J Biometeorol. 2013 Jan;57(1):1-19. doi: 10.1007/s00484-012-0541-y. Epub 2012 May 3.
High desert dust concentrations raise concerns about adverse health effects on human populations. Based on a systematic literature review, this paper aims to learn more about the relationship between desert dust and human health in the world and to analyse the place of West Africa as a study area of interest. Papers focussing on the potential relationship between dust and health and showing quantitative analyses, published between January 1999 and September 2011, were identified using the ISI Web of Knowledge database (N = 50). A number of adverse health effects, including respiratory, cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary diseases, are associated with dust. This survey highlights obvious dust impacts on human health independently of the study area, health outcomes and method. Moreover, it reveals an imbalance between the areas most exposed to dust and the areas most studied in terms of health effects. None of these studies has been conducted in West Africa, despite the proximity of the Sahara, which produces about half of the yearly global mineral dust. In view of the alarming results in many parts of the world (Asia, Europe, America), this paper concludes by stressing the importance of carrying out impact studies of Saharan dust in West Africa, where dust events are more frequent and intense than anywhere else.
高沙漠尘浓度引起了人们对人类健康产生不利影响的担忧。基于系统文献回顾，本文旨在更多地了解世界上沙漠尘与人类健康之间的关系，并分析西非作为一个感兴趣的研究区域的地位。本研究使用 ISI Web of Knowledge 数据库（N=50），确定了 1999 年 1 月至 2011 年 9 月间发表的聚焦于尘埃与健康之间潜在关系且展示定量分析的论文。大量研究表明，包括呼吸道疾病、心血管疾病和心肺疾病在内的多种健康问题都与尘埃有关。本研究突出了尘埃对人类健康的明显影响，而不考虑研究区域、健康结果和方法。此外，它还揭示了尘埃暴露最严重的地区与研究尘埃对健康影响的地区之间存在明显的不平衡。尽管撒哈拉沙漠每年产生约全球矿物质尘埃的一半，但在西非，还没有开展过这些健康影响的研究。鉴于世界上许多地区（亚洲、欧洲、美洲）的结果令人震惊，本文最后强调了在尘埃事件比其他任何地方都更频繁、更剧烈的西非开展撒哈拉尘埃影响研究的重要性。
