Comparison of common air pollutants, meteorological parameters, and cardio-respiratory hospitalization between urbanized areas in Kelantan

Abstract

A high concentration of air pollution is relational to meteorological conditions and the consequences can lead to health problems which are cardiovascular and respiratory-related diseases. This study aimed to compare air pollution, meteorological reading, and hospitalization in urbanized areas in Kelantan. The secondary data for this study were obtained from DOE and MOH for descriptive and trend analysis from the year 2000 until 2015 at three different locations: Tanah Merah, Pengkalan Chepa, and Kota Bharu Kelantan. The mean concentration for SO2, O3, CO, NO2, and PM10 were 0.001 ± 0.001 μg/m3, 0.014 ± 0.004 μg/m3, 0.657 ± 0.145 mg/m3, 0.007 ± 0.002 μg/m3 and 45.195 ± 11.229 μg/m3 respectively. Overall, the concentration of all the criteria air pollutants was lower than the MAAQS except for PM10. The trend analysis shows the concentration of air pollutants, and the meteorological parameter were fluctuating and influenced by the monsoon. High wind speed and temperature were observed during the NE and SW monsoon, respectively. Tanah Merah showed a higher concentration of PM10 compared to the other two locations. In contrast, Kota Bharu and Pengkalan Chepa has higher gasses concentration than Tanah Merah. The gasses result in consistent with cardio and respiratory-related hospitalization which showed higher hospitalization recorded in Kota Bharu than Tanah Merah. In conclusion, the urbanized areas have different dominant air pollutants due to the potential major sources that exist differently.