SPATIAL AND SEASONAL VARIATIONS OF THE PARTICULATE MATTERS (PM10) AT SELECTED SITES IN THE STATE OF KUWAIT AIR WITHIN THE PERIOD 2010?2014
Air pollution is one of biggest environmental problems as it has many negative effects, including
human health and ecosystem integrity. The sources of air pollution are either natural or humaninduced activities leading to several airborne chemical pollutants. Air pollution is a major concern
in the state of Kuwait, where petroleum industries, power plants (which run on fossil fuels), and
road traffic contribute mainly to it. Kuwait suffers from air pollution effects. This research assessed
the concentration of particulate matter pollutants (PM10) in relation to the meteorological
parameters (wind speed and direction, temperature, and relative humidity) in three areas?AlJahra, Al-Rumaithiya, and Al-Fahaheel?in Kuwait during the period 2010?2014. Many monitoring
stations were set-up by the Kuwait Environmental Public Authority (KEPA). The data of the
pollutants of these stations were compared with the ambient air quality standards (AAQS) set for
Kuwait by EPA and with the average concentrations of PM10 pollutants in the three zones. The
result of this study showed that there is a relationship between PM10 pollutants and meteorological
parameters as PM10 increases when the temperature and wind increase, and when the humidity
decreases, the current status of particulate matter pollutants exceed the KEPA standard limits. The
highest concentration of dust is in Al-Rumaithiya station with an annual average concentration of
146?330 ?g/m3
, followed by Al-Jahra station with an annual average concentration of 108?199 ?g/
m3
, and the lowest is in Al-Fahaheel station with an annual average concentration of 108?177 ?g/
m3
.