Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City
As in other parts of the world, air pollution over West and Central Africa has major health and meteorological impacts. Air quality assessment and its possible sanitary impact have become essential even in medium-sized towns, therefore amplifying the need for easy-to-implement monitoring methods wit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/10/1281 |
| _version_ | 1797515394927296512 |
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| author | Daouda Dawaï Mélina Macouin Sonia Rousse Jean-François Léon Merlin Gountié Dedzo Loïc Drigo |
| author_facet | Daouda Dawaï Mélina Macouin Sonia Rousse Jean-François Léon Merlin Gountié Dedzo Loïc Drigo |
| author_sort | Daouda Dawaï |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As in other parts of the world, air pollution over West and Central Africa has major health and meteorological impacts. Air quality assessment and its possible sanitary impact have become essential even in medium-sized towns, therefore amplifying the need for easy-to-implement monitoring methods with low environmental impact. We present here the potential of magnetic methods to monitor air quality at street level in the medium-sized city of Maroua (northern Cameroon) affected by dust-laden desert winds. More than five hundred (544) samples of bark and leaves taken from Neem trees in Maroua were analyzed. Magnetic susceptibility, saturation remanence, and S-ratio were found to determine the concentration and nature of magnetic particles. They are dominated by magnetite-like particle signals as a part of particulate emissions due to urban activities, including both traffic, composed of a substantial proportion of motorcycles, and wood burning for food preparation. We show that both bark and leaves from Neem trees are adequate passive bio-recorders. The use of both enables different times and heights to be sampled, allowing for the high-resolution monitoring, in terms of spatialization, of various urban environments. Particle emissions require assessment and screening that could be carried out rapidly and efficiently by magnetic methods on bio-recorders, even in cities impacted by dust-laden wind. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:44:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f6a229da0e564fbba3e753962ec5991a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:44:53Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-f6a229da0e564fbba3e753962ec5991a2023-11-22T17:25:06ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332021-10-011210128110.3390/atmos12101281Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African CityDaouda Dawaï0Mélina Macouin1Sonia Rousse2Jean-François Léon3Merlin Gountié Dedzo4Loïc Drigo5Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box 814, CameroonGéosciences Environnement Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 31400 Toulouse, FranceGéosciences Environnement Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 31400 Toulouse, FranceLaboratoire d’Aérologie, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse 3, CNRS, 31400 Toulouse, FranceDepartment of Life and Earth Sciences, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box 55, CameroonGéosciences Environnement Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 31400 Toulouse, FranceAs in other parts of the world, air pollution over West and Central Africa has major health and meteorological impacts. Air quality assessment and its possible sanitary impact have become essential even in medium-sized towns, therefore amplifying the need for easy-to-implement monitoring methods with low environmental impact. We present here the potential of magnetic methods to monitor air quality at street level in the medium-sized city of Maroua (northern Cameroon) affected by dust-laden desert winds. More than five hundred (544) samples of bark and leaves taken from Neem trees in Maroua were analyzed. Magnetic susceptibility, saturation remanence, and S-ratio were found to determine the concentration and nature of magnetic particles. They are dominated by magnetite-like particle signals as a part of particulate emissions due to urban activities, including both traffic, composed of a substantial proportion of motorcycles, and wood burning for food preparation. We show that both bark and leaves from Neem trees are adequate passive bio-recorders. The use of both enables different times and heights to be sampled, allowing for the high-resolution monitoring, in terms of spatialization, of various urban environments. Particle emissions require assessment and screening that could be carried out rapidly and efficiently by magnetic methods on bio-recorders, even in cities impacted by dust-laden wind.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/10/1281magnetic susceptibilitybiomagnetismneem treesCentral Africadeposited atmospheric dusturban pollution |
| spellingShingle | Daouda Dawaï Mélina Macouin Sonia Rousse Jean-François Léon Merlin Gountié Dedzo Loïc Drigo Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City Atmosphere magnetic susceptibility biomagnetism neem trees Central Africa deposited atmospheric dust urban pollution |
| title | Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City |
| title_full | Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City |
| title_fullStr | Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City |
| title_short | Tracking Airborne Pollution with Environmental Magnetism in A Medium-Sized African City |
| title_sort | tracking airborne pollution with environmental magnetism in a medium sized african city |
| topic | magnetic susceptibility biomagnetism neem trees Central Africa deposited atmospheric dust urban pollution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/10/1281 |
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