Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality for Sustainable Life: A Case Study of Rural and Urban Settlements in Poor Neighbourhoods in Kenya

Anne Wambui Mutahi, Laura Borgese, Claudio Marchesi, Michael J. Gatari and Laura E. Depero
Additional contact information
Anne Wambui Mutahi: Chemistry for Technologies Laboratory, INSTM and Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Laura Borgese: Chemistry for Technologies Laboratory, INSTM and Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Claudio Marchesi: Chemistry for Technologies Laboratory, INSTM and Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Michael J. Gatari: Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Laura E. Depero: Chemistry for Technologies Laboratory, INSTM and Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: This paper reports on the indoor and outdoor air quality in informal urban and rural settlements in Kenya. The study is motivated by the need to improve consciousness and to understand the harmful health effects of air quality to vulnerable people, especially in poor communities. Ng’ando urban informal settlement and Leshau Pondo rural village in Kenya are selected as representative poor neighborhoods where unclean energy sources are used indoor for cooking, lighting and heating. Filter based sampling for gravimetrical, elemental composition and black carbon (BC) analysis of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) is performed. findings from Ng’ando and Leshau Pondo showed levels exceeding the limit suggested by the world health organization (WHO), with rare exceptions. Significantly higher levels of PM 2.5 and black carbon are observed in indoors than outdoor samples, with a differences in the orders of magnitudes and up to 1000 µg/m 3 for PM 2.5 in rural settlements. The elemental composition reveals the presence of potentially toxic elements, in addition to characterization, emission sources were also identified. Levels of Pb exceeding the WHO limit are found in the majority of samples collected in the urban locations near major roads with heavy traffic. Our results demonstrate that most of the households live in deplorable air quality conditions for more than 12 h a day and women and children are more affected. Air quality condition is much worse in rural settlements where wood and kerosene are the only available fuels for their energy needs.

Keywords: particulate matter; black carbon; TXRF; indoor; outdoor; air quality; human health; biomass; fossil fuel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2417/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2417/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2417-:d:504667

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().