Indoor and outdoor PM10 levels at schools located near mine dumps in Gauteng and North West Provinces, South Africa

dc.contributor.authorNkosi, Vusumuzi
dc.contributor.authorWichmann, Janine
dc.contributor.authorVoyi, K.V.V. (Kuku)
dc.date.accessioned2017-02-01T08:31:38Z
dc.date.available2017-02-01T08:31:38Z
dc.date.issued2017-01-06
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND : Few studies in South Africa have investigated the exposure of asthmatic learners to indoor and outdoor air pollution at schools. This study compared outdoor PM10 and SO2 exposure levels in exposed (1–2 km from gold mine dumps) and unexposed schools (5 km or more from gold mine dumps). It also examined exposure of asthmatic children to indoor respirable dust at exposed and unexposed schools. METHODS : The study was conducted between 1 and 31 October 2012 in five schools from exposed and five from unexposed communities. Outdoor PM10 and SO2 levels were measured for 8-h at each school. Ten asthmatic learners were randomly selected from each school for 8-h personal respirable dust sampling during school hours. RESULTS : The level of outdoor PM10 for exposed was 16.42 vs. 11.47 mg.m−3 for the unexposed communities (p < 0.001). The outdoor SO2 for exposed was 0.02 ppb vs. 0.01 ppb for unexposed communities (p < 0.001). Indoor respirable dust in the classroom differed significantly between exposed (0.17 mg.m−3) vs. unexposed (0.01 mg.m−3) children with asthma at each school (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION : The significant differences between exposed and unexposed schools could reveal a serious potential health hazard for school children, although they were within the South African Air Quality Standards’ set by the Department of Environmental Affairs. The indoor respirable dust levels in exposed schools could have an impact on children with asthma, as they were significantly higher than the unexposed schools, although there are no published standards for environmental exposure for children with asthma.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentSchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH)en_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2017en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Mine Health Safety Council of South Africa (MHSC) and National Research Fund – Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (NRF – DAAD).en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealthen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationNkosi, V, Wichmann, J & Voyi, K 2017, 'Indoor and outdoor PM10 levels at schools located near mine dumps in Gauteng and North West Provinces, South Africa', BMC Public Health, vol. 17, art. no. 42, pp. 1-7.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1471-2458
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/58774
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_ZA
dc.rights© The Author(s). 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.en_ZA
dc.subjectMine dumpsen_ZA
dc.subjectSchoolsen_ZA
dc.subjectAir pollutionen_ZA
dc.subjectAsthmaen_ZA
dc.subjectGauteng Province, South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectNorth West Province, South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectOutdoor PM10 exposure levelen_ZA
dc.subjectOutdoor SO2 exposure levelen_ZA
dc.titleIndoor and outdoor PM10 levels at schools located near mine dumps in Gauteng and North West Provinces, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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