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Gulf News tested the quality of the air in Dubai, and found the situation to be no worse than in some European urban areas.

Top 10 polluted cities in the world (source: Time, 2007)

1. Linfen, China
2. Tianying, China
3. Sukinda, India
4. Vapi, India
5. La Oroya, Peru
6. Dzerzhinsk, Russia
7. Norilsk, Russia
8. Chernobyl, Ukraine
9. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
10. Kabwe, Zambia

http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Envi ... 94057.html

Dr Lars Gidhagen, Air Quality Consultant Services Manager from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), who attended the EnviroCities 2008, said he was very much in favour of passive tubes, both for an initial assessment or as a complement to more sophisticated automatic monitors.

Toluene and Benzene: “Whatever exposure to benzene may increase cancer risk, but the levels you have are not higher than those you find in Swedish cities.

All levels of toluene, including the much higher values at the Marina, are below the WHO guideline. All toluene and benzene data seems reasonable for traffic environments, except The Marina, where the Toluene level is very much
higher. I do not know if there is a gas station or some handling with fuels there. Toluene is also a well-used solvent.”

NO2: You have levels typically of 30-40 mg/m3, maximum 70 mg/m3. This seems reasonable for environments influenced by traffic. The EU limit value for annual averages is 40 mg/m3. This means that you are likely to have an intensively trafficked environment at Deira. Now, even if you exceed the EU limit values, it is not likely that the exposure to NO2 is the most harmful thing.

Normally it is the exposure to small inhalable particles (PM10) coming from vehicle exhaust tubes that are most
dangerous for health. The gaseous NO2 is more like an indicator of a group of vehicle generated air pollutants, of which small particles are the most dangerous.

The NO2 levels indicate an air polluted by combustion exhausts, and it would be good for health to lower the levels to, at least, below the EU limit of 40 mg/m3.

SO2: “SO2 emissions are normally found at industrial plants using high sulphur fuels like heavy fuel oils or coal. You may also have high sulphur content in your diesel. You can see somewhat raised

SO2 levels at the same sites where NO2 is raised, so part of the SO2 comes from traffic. Ship traffic will generate a lot of SO2. However, the levels given by the passive tubes indicate no harm to people’s health.


GOVERNMENTDUTY

Denise Welsh, from Air Quality Consultants in the UK, provides consultancy support to developers, industry, local authorities and central government.

“In the UK, the government has a duty to meet air quality objectives. An annual mean objective would apply at the facade of a home, while an hourly objective would apply in a garden or street café. For nitrogen dioxide the annual mean objective is 40 mg/m3, and the hourly mean objective is 200 mg/m3 (no more than 18 excesses in a year).

Where a measured annual mean concentration is greater than 60 mg/m3, there is the possibility that the hourly mean objective would be exceeded at this location,” she said. All of the measurements were taken over short periods of just 10 days and therefore results should be interpreted with care.

With this in mind, the nitrogen dioxide monitoring data appear to show four locations with concentrations above the annual mean objective, two of which also exceed 60 mg/m3.

There is thus a chance that the hourly mean objective would also be exceeded at these locations. In the UK, nitrogen dioxide is generally a greater problem where traffic flows are high and congested, traffic speeds are low, and where dispersion of pollutants is restricted, for example in street canyons, where buildings either side of the road are taller than the road width (such as in city centres).

All of the short-term measurements of benzene appear to meet the 2010 UK annual mean objective of 5 mg/m3; none of the measurements are particularly high.

Sulphur dioxide is only an issue in the UK close to industrial sources and in areas with a high density of domestic solid fuel burning. All of the sulphur dioxide concentrations provided are well below the objectives.

However, the averaging period was only 10 days, so the 15 minute, hourly and daily variation in concentrations would not be apparent, and the average could potentially mask any peaks in concentration during that period.”

http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Envi ... 94058.html

Sandstorms expected to batter UAE

By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
Published: March 11, 2009, 23:05

Dubai: North-westerly shamal winds are expected to push dust into the atmosphere on Thursday, but the sandstorm will be less severe than the one that affected Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the dust is likely to result in slight visibility problems, particularly in the western parts of the country.

Conditions over the weekend, though expected to be largely settled, may become dusty in some areas due to winds that could gust at speeds up to 36 kilometres per hour at times, weathermen say. A slight drop in daytime temperatures is also expected.

According to the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), the weather in the UAE will be affected by the aftermath of the intense storm that hit Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The storm forced the closure of airports, sea ports, and oil exports in several GCC countries for several hours.

The centre said the mass of dust kicked up by the storm was expected to reach the UAE's western region and adjacent areas by yesterday afternoon due to the south-eastern and north-westerly winds. It may reduce visibility to 3,000 meters in the affected areas at times.

A weatherman at the Dubai Meteorological Office said: "It will be a short and weak spell, but the dust may drift to other parts of the UAE as well."

The western region of Abu Dhabi is expected to be coated in a layer of orange dust, reducing visibility and possibly causing problems for road traffic.

The weather will be fair to partly cloudy in general, becoming hazy at times. Day-time temperatures will decrease slightly today. Relative humidity is also expected to increase over some coastal areas by night and early morning, with a chance of mist or fog patches at night and early tomorrow morning. The sea will be moderate with two to four foot waves offshore.

Yesterday, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah were the hottest cities in the emirates with temperature shooting up to 37C. Some other cities were not far behind, as Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain recorded highs of 36C. It was 35C in Dubai and Ajman, and 29C in Fujairah.

In Fujairah, strong, dusty conditions plagued much of the east coast on Monday, as the unsettled weather continued for the second day running.

Westerly winds of up to 31 knots were accompanied by a noticeable drop in temperatures and a reduction of road visibility as the wind blew considerable amounts of dust and sand into the air.

Cargo flights in and out of Fujairah Airport were halted due to the conditions, according to the airport's meteorological office.

Some construction sites were forced to scale down or halt their work.

Sunday morning also saw heavy fog between Fujairah and Masafi, which led to a severe drop in visibility to less than five metres in some areas.