An air quality assessment in the industrialised western Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa
Date
2012Author
Venter, Andrew D.
Beukes, Johan P.
Van Zyl, Pieter G.
Josipovic, Miroslav
Pienaar, Jacobus J.
Tiitta, Petri
Laakso, Lauri
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
South Africa has the largest industrialised economy in Africa, with significant mining and
metallurgical activities. A large fraction of the South African mineral assets is concentrated in
the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC), with the western limb being the most exploited. Because
the majority of the world’s platinum is produced in the BIC, this area is also of international
interest. There are some indications that the western BIC should be considered an air pollution
hotspot; however, inadequate data exist to substantiate these claims scientifically. To partially
address this knowledge gap, a comprehensive air quality monitoring station was operated
for more than 2 years in this area. Meteorological parameters, trace gas concentrations and
total mass concentration of particulate matter up to 10 μm in size (PM10) were measured.
Compared with South African and European ambient air quality standards, SO2, NO2 and
CO concentrations were generally acceptable. The major sources of SO2 were identified as
high-stack industry emissions, while household combustion from semi-formal and informal
settlements was identified as the predominant source of NO2 and CO. In contrast, O3 exceeded
the 8-h moving average more than 322 times per year. The main contributing factor was
identified to be the influx of regional air masses, with high O3 precursor concentrations. PM10
exceeded the current South African 24-h standard 6.6 times per year, the future (2015) standard
42.3 times per year and the European standard more than 120 times per year. The main source
of PM10 was identified as household combustion from semi-formal and informal settlements.
The findings clearly indicate that atmospheric O3 and PM10 levels in the western BIC need to
be addressed to avoid negative environmental and human health impacts.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/14825http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajs.v108i9/10.1059
http://archive.sajs.co.za/index.php/SAJS/article/view/1059/1395