What do we know about effects of desert dust on air quality and human health in West Africa compared to other regions?

Abstract

This study aims to compare, on the one hand, the geographical distribution of the desert dust source areas, their contribution to quantities emitted into the atmosphere, the trajectories and the quantities deposited, with on the other hand the areas of research interest focused on the desert dust impacts on air quality and/or human health. Based on a systematic review of the literature using the ISI Web of Knowledge database, we found 231 articles published over the last decade on the desert dust impacts on air quality. Of these, 48% concerned Asian dust and 39% Saharan dust, with the remaining 13% divided between the other dust source areas. However, only one of these studies addressed the worsening air pollution in West Africa, even though it is very close to the Sahara, the greatest contributor to the global dust budget. Moreover, there have been very few studies (41) looking at the direct links between desert dust and human health; in this context too, no interest has been shown in West Africa. Yet this region is also among the areas in which morbidity rates have been noted to be far higher than those found in other regions of the world, and where respiratory infections alone account for more than 20% of the causes of infant mortality. This survey highlights a clear imbalance between those areas most exposed to dust and the most studied areas in terms of dust impacts. Given these findings and the often alarming results published about other regions of the world, we advocate a revival of interest in research on West Africa in order to achieve a better understanding of the desert dust impacts on air quality and health among the populations of this region.

Urban Dust Fall Concentration and Its Properties in Kerman City, Iran

“…The dust fall amount was determined by subtracting the weight of the filters before and after the sampling periods. All test methods have been taken from the ASTM guideline and Air Sampling Method and Analysis book (8,9). Jar containers (cylindrical plastic vessels) with standard dimensions (20cm diameter and 40cm height) were filled with distilled water with EC < 1 (based on standard ASTM D 1193) and sealed in a laboratory and opened in sampling points.…”

“…Dust fall, affects not only the air quality of cities, but also public health (7). Dusts and dust fall can lead to diseases such as tonsillitis, allergy, daily pneumonia, asthma and eye irritation (8)(9)(10). Dust events have been seen as a risk factor for daily hospitalization for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (9,11,12).…”

A process-based evaluation of dust-emitting winds in the CMIP5 simulation of HadGEM2-ES

“…In addition to these climate effects, suspended dust aerosol decreases the air quality with adverse influences on human health (e.g. Longueville et al 2010;Griffin 2007). Further impacts of dust include the disruption of air and road traffic due to reduced visibility and solar energy production due to suspended or deposited dust.…”

Seasonal variability of aerosol concentration and size distribution in Cape Verde using a continuous aerosol optical spectrometer

“…African desert dust has significant impacts on atmospheric heat balance and climate control, weakening Atlantic Tropical cyclones (Wu, 2007), on biogeochemical cycles in the Atlantic and Amazon basin (Mahowald et al, 2009) and on human health in Africa and surrounding regions, since it has been related with the spreading of meningitis in Sahel (Sultan et al, 2005) and seems to have an impact on the incidence of asthma and cardio vascular illnesses (De Longueville et al, 2010).…”