Open AccessAmbient air pollution per specific land use types and activities in an urbanizing Eastern Caribbean Country, St. Kitts and Nevis
Author(s) -
S. Whittaker,
Nicole C. Deziel,
Y Zhang,
Lan Jin,
Q A Edwards,
Leighton Naraine,
J.C. Scarborough,
David T. Allen,
Michelle L. Bell
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
environmental research communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2515-7620
DOI - 10.1088/2515-7620/ab7abc
Subject(s) - recreation , geography , environmental science , air quality index , air pollution , pollutant , land use , pollution , environmental protection , physical geography , meteorology , ecology , biology
Urban development can have negative impacts on the environment through various mechanisms. While many air quality studies have been carried out in more developed nations, Eastern Caribbean (EC) countries remain understudied. This study aims to estimate the concentrations of air pollutants in the EC nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Transport, recreation and construction sites were selected randomly using local land use records. Pollutant levels were measured repeatedly for numerous 1-hour intervals in each location between October 2015 and November 2018. Weather trends and land use characteristics were collected concurrent to sampling. Across 27 sites, mean NO 2 , O 3 , SO 2 , PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels were 26.61 ppb (range: 0–306 ppb), 11.94 ppb (0–230 ppb), 27.9 ppb (0–700 ppb), 52.9 μ g m −3 (0–10,400 μ g m −3 ) and 29.8 μ g m −3 (0–1556 μ g m −3 ), respectively. Pollutants were elevated in high urban areas and generally significantly positively correlated with each other, with the exception of PM 10 . NO 2 levels in construction areas were generally comparable to those in transportation areas and higher than in recreation areas. O 3 levels were lower in construction than recreation and transport areas. SO 2 concentrations were lower in construction and recreation compared to transport sites. Construction and recreation PM 10 levels exceeded transport sites, while PM 2.5 was highest in construction areas. Additional bivariate and multivariate analysis were conducted to assess whether various meteorological, temporal and land use factors including rain, tour season and urban features explained variability in air pollutant concentrations. Tourist season and specific months, more than any other factors, contributed most to variability in pollutant concentrations. These new measurements of air pollution concentrations in an understudied nation may have important implications for health outcomes among exposed EC residents, and provide critical data for future exposure and epidemiologic research and environmental policy.