AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Air Quality Assessment in the Surrounding Holy Places of Mecca, Saudi Arabia During Hajj
HAIDER KHWAJA, Omar S Abu-Rizaiza, Azhar Siddique, Mirza M. Hussain, Fida Khatib, Jahan Zeb, Donald Blake, Wadsworth Center, University at Albany
Abstract Number: 510 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract The associations of exposure to air pollution and adverse human health effects have been demonstrated in many epidemiological studies. Hajj, an annual pilgrimage of Islam, draws millions of pilgrims from more than 200 countries for religious rituals in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The city centers on the Grand Mosque (Masjid Al-haram), which is connected with the network of tunnels. The main Hajj pilgrimage route for five days extends 20 km to the east and includes “Mina”, “Arafat”, and “Muzdalifah”. A detailed study was conducted in Mecca, its tunnels, and surrounding holy places during Hajj of the year 2013 (October 13-17). Spatial and temporal variations in total suspended particulate (TSP), PM10, PM7, PM2.5, PM1, ozone (O3), and black carbon (BC) levels along the route were recorded using portable monitors and GPS to assess the status of air quality. This is the first study to elucidate the exposure to air pollutants among pilgrims. Extremely high levels of all pollutants were observed during the intensive measuring periods. For example, the PM7, PM2.5, O3, and BC concentrations of up to 9,433 microgram/cubic meter, 484 microgram/cubic meter, 444 ppb, and 468 microgram/cubic meter, respectively, were observed. Results of this investigation revealed that most routes had on average exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended standards for PM10 and PM2.5. The reasons for the high air pollutants concentrations are most probably high volume of traffic, construction work, re-suspension of particles, and geographical conditions (arid regions). The pilgrim’s longer trip duration lead to their highest whole trip exposure to air pollutants, which indicate that they are subject to higher health risk. Better understanding of air pollution exposure and their determinants in the environments will contribute to the development of more appropriate exposure reductive strategies and have significant public health meanings.