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Air Qual Atmos Health (2013) 6:589601 DOI 10.1007/s11869-013-0198-7
Particulate pollution in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sarath K. Guttikunda & Sereeter Lodoysamba &
Baldorj Bulgansaikhan & Batdorj Dashdondog
Received: 7 February 2013 /Accepted: 29 April 2013 /Published online: 16 May 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) listed the air pollution in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) among the top 5 cities with the worst air quality in the world. Air quality in the winter season reaches highs of 750 g/m3 for daily average fine particulates (PM) due to increased coal combustion and lower mixing heights (<200 m), coupled with the citys geography surrounded by mountains, which further restricts the vertical and horizontal dispersion of the pollutants. The annual average concentrations in 20102011 ranged 136114 g/m3 (the WHO guideline for fine PM is 10 g/m3). The single largest source of particulate pollution in Ulaanbaatar is coal and bio-mass combustion in households and heat-only boilers, followed by power plants. In this paper, we present sector-specific emissions for 2010 accounting for 62,000 tons of fine PM, 55,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 89,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions. The inventory is spatially disaggregated at 0.01 resolution on a GIS platform for use in a chemical transport model (ATMoS). The modeled concentrations for the urban area ranged 15370 g/m3, when overlaid on gridded population, resulted in estimated 1,0001,500 premature deaths per year due to outdoor air pollution. This study also highlights the linkages between indoor and outdoor air pollution. In these
harsh temperate conditions, with 50 % of the emissions originating from Ger households, they are as big a health risk for indoor air quality as they are for outdoor air quality. Any intervention improving combustion efficiency or providing clean fuel for these stoves will have a combined benefit for indoor air quality, outdoor air quality, and climate policy. The analysis shows that aggressive pollution control measures are imperative to protect the population in Ulaanbaatar from excess exposure levels, and implementation of control measures like the introduction of heat efficient stoves, clean coal for heating boilers, and urban transport planning will result in significant health benefits, which surpass any costs of institutional, technical, and economic interventions.
Keywords SIM-air . ATMoS . Emissions inventory . Dispersion modeling . Air...