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Measurement of fine particle concentrations and estimation of air quality index (AQI) over northeast Douala, Cameroon

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Abstract

Due to absence of data on air quality monitoring and pollutant emissions in Douala, a measurement campaign along the principal street passage to the college grounds was started. Using the OC 300 Laser Dust Particle, fine particle concentrations are monitored during 1 week from Monday to Sunday. The instrument used detects four different sizes of particles: PM10, PM5, PM2.5, and PM1. The daily average concentrations measured ranged from 9.47 ± 0.26 to 50.14 ± 2.42 µg·m−3 for PM1.0; 13.13 ± 0.38 to 86.65 ± 3.96 µg·m−3 for PM2.5; 13.60 ± 0.40 to 100.56 ± 4.20 µg·m−3 for PM5; and 14.52 ± 0.42 to 114.59 ± 4.60 µg·m−3 for PM10. Exceptions made from PM5 and PM1.0 which were not in relation to the WHO (World Health Organization) guideline values, the level of PM10 and PM2.5 is higher than the WHO standards. The air quality index (AQI) is between very poor and poor during this measurement campaign, indicating that residents of the study region are highly exposed. Through the use of correlation studies, it has been demonstrated that the predominant source of fine particles in the studied region is vehicular activity. As a result, traffic density is the most significant factor causing the different air pollution levels seen in the tested areas.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professors Andre LENOUO and Severin NGUIYA for their assistance during data collection and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, University of Douala, P.O. Box: 24157, Douala, Cameroon

    Cyrille Adiang Mezoue, Yannick Cedric Ngangmo & David Monkam

  2. National Higher Polytechnic School of Douala, P.O. Box: 2701, Douala, Cameroon

    Cyrille Adiang Mezoue

  3. Centre of Environment Climate Change and Public Health, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751004, India

    Arti Choudhary

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  1. Cyrille Adiang Mezoue
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Contributions

Cyrille Adiang Mezoue and Yannick Cedric Ngangmo: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing: original draft, writing: review and editing. Arti Choudhary: data curation, prepared figures, review and editing. David Monkam: review and editing, supervision, and project administration.

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Correspondence to Cyrille Adiang Mezoue.

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Mezoue, C.A., Ngangmo, Y.C., Choudhary, A. et al. Measurement of fine particle concentrations and estimation of air quality index (AQI) over northeast Douala, Cameroon. Environ Monit Assess 195, 965 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11582-2

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