Ozone Concentration Levels in Urban Environments—Upper Silesia Region Case Study

Joanna Kobza, Mariusz Geremek and Lechosław Dul
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Joanna Kobza: Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia, Piekarska 18, 41-902 Bytom, Poland
Mariusz Geremek: Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia, Piekarska 18, 41-902 Bytom, Poland
Lechosław Dul: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia, Piekarska 18, 41-902 Bytom, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Although ozone (O 3 ) plays a crucial role in screening the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere layers from the ultraviolet radiation, troposphere ozone is proven to have negative health effects on the human body and is one of the greenhouse gases. The objective of this study was to perform a measurement-based assessment for determining whether the concentration of ozone is within admissible limits, or exceeded, in Silesia Province and does not pose a threat to the local population. The data provided by the Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice were used in the analysis. The received data constitute the result of 8-h measurements of concentrations of ozone at selected air monitoring stations of the Silesian province. The locations of three monitoring stations were found to be useful for the aim of this research; one site is situated in a rural background area; another one is located in a medium-sized city and the Katowice station is representative for an urban background situation. We used cluster analysis, weighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (WPGMA) and Chebyshev distances to test the hypothesis and compare empirical distributions in the general population. The alarm level has not been exceeded in indicated measurements stations in Silesian Voivodship in the period 2015–2017 (averaging time 1 h: 240 µg/m 3 for 3 h). The target level was exceeded in 2015 at all three measurements stations and in the following years at one station (in Zloty Potok, 2016, and in Katowice, 2017). Each year, the largest number of exceedances occurred in August. The results clearly indicate a lack of hazards for the general population’s health in terms of increased concentrations of ozone in the city centers and outside. The results confirm that environmental conditions (i.e., landform, the area surrounding monitoring station) have a significant influence on the ozone level.

Keywords: population health; ozone; environmental policy; air pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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