The capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, and the capital of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville, are both lacking of air quality monitoring programs. Researchers Daniel Westervelt from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory atmospheric scientist and Columbia University undergraduate student, Celeste McFarlane, has published a multi-year ambient PM2.5 dataset in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. The study was published online on Aerosol and Air Quality Research.
The researchers discovered PM2.5 is highest during the dry season and shows it is five times higher than the World Health Organization guidelines. It is lower in the remaining months, but is still four times higher than WHO guidelines.
Westervelt said, "Average PM2.5 concentrations suggest unhealthy levels of human exposure, which, over time, can lead to cardiopulmonary problems and premature death." He continued, "We were able to demonstrate that it is possible to robustly characterize air quality in African megacities using well-calibrated, relatively simple, cheap devices."
Image credit: Dan Westervelt