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Volume 3, Issue 2 (Suppl)
Trends in Green chem
ISSN: 2471-9889
Environmental & Green Chemistry 2017
July 24-26, 2017
Page 29
5
th
International Conference on
6
th
International Conference on
July 24-26, 2017 Rome, Italy
Environmental Chemistry and Engineering
Green Chemistry and Technology
&
An assessment of air quality in the surrounding holy places of Mecca, Saudi Arabia during Hajj
Haider A Khwaja
1
, Omar S Abu-Rizaiza
2
, Azhar Siddique
3
, Jahan Zeb
2
and
Donald R Blake
4
1
University at Albany, USA
2
King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
3
Qatar Environment & Energy Institute, Qatar
4
University of California, USA
T
he associations of exposure to air pollution and adverse human health effects have been demonstrated in many epidemiologic
studies. Hajj, an annual pilgrimage of Islam, draws millions of pilgrims from more than 200 countries for religious rituals in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The city is surrounded by mountains with a population of 1.7 million, which gets doubles or even more during
Hajj. The city centers on the Grand Mosque (Masjid Al-haram), connected with the network of tunnels. Main Hajj pilgrimage route
for five days extends 20 km to the east and includes
“Mina”, “Arafat”
and
“Muzdalifah”
. A detailed study was conducted in Mecca,
its tunnels, and surrounding holy places during Hajj (October 13-17, 2013). Spatial and temporal variations in total suspended
particulate (TSP), PM10 , PM7 , PM2.5 , PM1 , ozone (O3), and black carbon (BC) levels along the route were recorded using portable
monitors and GPS to assess the status of air quality. This is the first study to elucidate the exposure to air pollutants among pilgrims.
Extremely high levels of all pollutants were observed during the intensive measuring periods. For example, the PM7, PM2.5, O3, and
BC concentrations of up to 9,433 µg/m3, 484 µg/m3, 444 ppb, and 468 µg/m3, respectively, were observed. Results of this investigation
revealed that most routes had on average exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for PM10 and PM2.5. The
reasons for the high air pollutants concentrations are most probably high volume of traffic, construction work, re-suspension of
particles, and geographical conditions (arid regions). The pilgrim’s longer trip duration lead to their highest whole trip exposure to
air pollutants, which indicate that they are possibly subject to higher health risk. Better understanding of air pollution exposure and
their determinants in the environments will contribute to the development of more appropriate exposure reductive strategies and
have significant public health meanings.
Biography
Haider A Khwaja has 27 years of solid research experience on environmental projects. He is the Director of the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry at the Wadsworth
Center, NYSDOH. He is a Faculty Member at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, where he teaches
and mentors graduate and undergraduate students. He has been carrying out various environmental projects in USA and in developing countries. Active research
programs include: 1. Effects of particulate matter on daily morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases in urban areas; 2. Chemical
characteristics of fine particles responsible for the observed health effects; 3. Exposure and health impacts related to outdoor and indoor air pollution including
studies of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), diesel vehicle emission, air toxins, and indoor allergens; 4. Water and
human health issues such as drinking water quality and human health risks associated with water contaminants.
hkhwaja@albany.eduHaider A Khwaja et al., Trends in Green chem, 3:2
DOI: 10.21767/2471-9889-C1-002