Hazard Quotient Index and Air Quality in an Urban Site of Monterrey Metropolitan Area

Daniel Alfonso Che Citalán¹, Beatriz Lezcano de la Cruz¹, Julia Griselda Ceron Bretón¹, Rosa María Cerón Bretón¹, Alberto Antonio Espinosa Guzmán², Simón Eduardo Carranco Lozada³, and María de la Luz Espinosa Fuentes⁴

1. Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, México

2. Centro de Investigación en Corrosión de la Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Mexico

3. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico

4. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Mexico

Abstract: An air quality analysis was carried out in a site located in San Nicolas de los Garza, N.L during 2019, considering ambient air concentrations of criteria air pollutants: O₃, NO₂, CO, SO₂ y PM10. An environmental risk study was conducted considering the dangerousness index (IP) of developing non-cancer diseases (cardiovascular and respiratory diseases) due to chronic and acute inhalation of these pollutants in the study site. The air pollutants that may represent a problem in the air quality in the study site were: ozone, PM10 and PM2.5 due to exceeded in several times the maximum permissible levels established in the Mexican standards.  It was found that PM10 represents the most important air pollutant in the case of chronic exposure due to it had a dangerousness index higher than 1.0, indicating that it may cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the population of the study site.

Key words: air quality, atmospheric pollution, monterrey, dangerousness index