Assessment of air quality compliance in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

Abstract

Air pollution in metropolitan areas is a big problem, in developed and developing nations. Furthermore, in cities, it has been exacerbated by a growing urban population and increased vehicles on the road. Current estimations place more than 55% of the global population in urban areas by 2050, which is expected to climb to over 70%; and South Africa is not exempt from this reality. Studies have shown that air pollution is a substantial risk to humans health and has been linked to increased illness and mortality. Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that particulate matter, sulphur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) form part of the pollutants of concern with severe environmental health risks. The data pertaining to PM10, NO2, and SO2, which are commonly monitored and considered to be of importance, was obtained from the SAAQIS database for the time period including 2016 to 2020. The provided data pertains to the network stations for ambient air monitoring within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The assessment of PM10, NO2, and SO2 concentrations was conducted in accordance with the South African National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Therefore, the objectives of this study was to investigate the variations in NO2, PM10, and SO2 levels across different seasons, evaluate the air quality within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, and analyze the geographical patterns of these pollutants. The data analysis for this study was performed using Microsoft Excel and the Statistics Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) techniques. In addition, the utilization of bar graphs and box and whisker plots was employed for the purpose of analyzing the obtained results. The research findings established that the City of Tshwane failed to comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in relation to the recorded annual levels of SO2 (163.76 μg/m3), NO2 (60 μg/m3) and PM10 (78.18 μg/m3) at Booysens meighbourhood. The current findings is indicative of an area that is at risk of being declared a hotsport within the city should the current observation persists.