Monitoring the impacts of climatic seasons on air quality and VOC concentration trends at Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

High emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) pose a serious health risk, including cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) list these substances as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Air travel and airport operations are major contributors to VOC emissions. Within the VOCs, a group referred to as BTEX (i.e. benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylenes) pose several health implications on exposure. Therefore, monitoring VOC concentrations at airport settings are imperative. The research was undertaken at Lanseria International Airport for this pilot study. Sampling was conducted in the winters of 2019 and 2020 and the summer of 2020. Monitoring campaigns lasted 14 days, using Radiello Passive Samplers and meteorological data acquired from the South Africa Weather Service (SAWS). BTEX data indicated that winter 2019 pollutant levels were higher than winter 2020. While summer typically produces lower concentrations than winter, summer 2021 saw greater concentrations than winter 2020. This may be attributed to the changing conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown conditions that were experienced. BTEX results for winter 2019, winter 2020, and summer 2021 were 250.8 µg/m³, 133.63 µg/m³, and 232.5 µg/m³, respectively. The kriging interpolation technique was used to construct hotspot spatial distribution maps. Specifically, the paint shop, the fuel farm, and the apron office at the airport had elevated VOC concentrations over the three years. In contrast, the fire training area had some of the lowest concentration levels mapped. In conclusion, seasonal change, environmental conditions, and lockdown regulations significantly influenced BTEX VOC concentrations.