10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Air Pollution in Latin American Cities
Hector Jorquera, LUPITA MONTOYA, Nestor Rojas, University of Colorado Boulder
Abstract Number: 263 Working Group: Air Quality in Megacities: from Sources to Control
Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2014, 92% of the world population was living in places where the WHO air quality guidelines levels were not met. According to WHO’s Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database, there are 122 cities in 16 Latin American countries that routinely report ambient concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5. The air quality at some of the largest cities in Latin America has been improving in recent years; however, the ambient air quality standards are still not attained in many of them. For countries that only report air quality for their capital cities, their pollution levels are often above the respective national ambient air quality standards. Most of the data compiled by WHO are estimates based on PM10 measurements because ambient PM2.5 is less frequently measured throughout the region. In addition, there is less information about air quality for mid-size cities, in countries like Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico, where the most polluted city is not the country’s capital.
Source apportionment studies have been conducted in several Latin American cities that don’t meet the WHO’s guideline of 10 ug/m3, as long-term averages. In general, coastal cities like Rio de Janeiro and Recife in Brazil have better air quality than continental cities in valleys surrounded by mountains like Córdoba in Argentina, México City in Mexico, Medellin in Colombia and Santiago in Chile. Ambient PM2.5 has decreased in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, with traffic sources increasing and industrial sources decreasing in relative contributions. These trends likely reflect increases in motor vehicles and more regulations imposed on industry.
There is scant information about the state of indoor air quality (IAQ) in Latin America. The emphasis so far has been on ambient air quality and advancing ambient air regulations in the region; however, there have been a few IAQ studies conducted in urban settings. Indoor air quality regulations in Latin America have revolved primarily around enacting smoke-free policies after the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2005. The FCTC provided the needed mechanisms to enable national and subnational legislations to effectively protect people from second hand smoke. Since then, several Latin American countries have enacted smoke-free policies in public places. Some local smoke-free policies have been enacted in places like Mexico City. All these initiatives have been encountered by strong opposition from the tobacco industry, which has often turned to litigation to stop them. In general, the preponderance of the burden of indoor air pollution is faced by the poorest sectors in Latin American countries, often the rural and urban poor. The associated health effects due to indoor air pollution exposures in these communities have received limited attention and much of what we know is deduced from studies conducted in developed countries at much lower pollution levels. In this work, case studies from several Latin American countries are discussed in terms of air quality, environmental justice, urban governance and citizen participation in decision-making processes, sustainable urban transport options and gender issues.