Study reveals rising air pollution in Yaounde.

According to the report made public recently, the quality of air in the city of Yaounde contains so many pollutants which pose a threat to the health of citizens.

The study also finds that the pollution is beyond the World Health Organisation, WHO, limits. The environment ministry and SEI are said to have conducted the study for four months. 

Researches are said to have focused on fine particulate matter, PM2.5 with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less. 

The researchers, in their findings, reports hold, discovered that Yaounde’s PM2.5 level is greater than WHO recommended limit of 25 micrograms per cubic meter, μg/m³.

According to the study, in November 2023 alone, recordings of 21 days in Yaounde showed a PM2.5 level exceeding 35 μg/m³ which is significantly above the WHO standard.

The study further revealed that, only five days in the month of November met WHO air quality standards.

It further stated that, the pollution in the air is greatly linked to the pathologies that many have been suffering from recently. 

The report cited pathologies like; coughs, rhinitis, influenza, and conjunctivitis as potential health consequences which have surfaced as a result of pollution.

The study, it was disclosed, was carried out using two sensors installed in Yaounde. The environment ministry and the Stockholm Environmental Institute, SEI, are also said to be working on carrying out a similar study in other parts of the country.

Worthy to be said is the fact that, air pollution is the contamination of the air we breathe, indoors or outdoors, by any chemical, physical or biological which poses threats to human health. 

The pollutants with the most robust evidence for public health, experts say, include particulate matter, PM, ozone, O₃, nitrogen dioxide NO₂ and sulfur dioxide SO₂ and carbon monoxide CO. 

The health risks associated with PM smaller than or equal to 2.5 microns, in diameter PM₂.₅ are of particular public health relevance. 

PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀, health experts say, are capable of penetrating deep into the lungs while PM₂.₅ can even enter the bloodstream, primarily resulting in cardiovascular and respiratory impacts. 

In 2013, the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, classified outdoor air pollution and PM as carcinogenic.

According to the WHO, air pollution especially increases the morbidity and mortality of many as a result of Non-Communicable Diseases, NCD, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.