Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Particulate matter pollution at traffic hotspots of Accra, Ghana: levels, exposure experiences of street traders, and associated respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 32, pages 333–342 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

There are limited studies on the health effects of street trading in spite of common knowledge that individuals engaged in the trade are exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution per their mode of operation, and also the fact that the venture is a dominant occupation in cities of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and other developing regions.

Objective

We characterized particulate matter (PM) pollution levels at traffic hotspots of Accra, Ghana during the dry and wet seasons, and assessed exposure experiences of street traders.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 236 street traders operating along six selected traffic routes of Accra and a comparison group of 186 office workers. PurpleAir PA-II monitors were used to measure PM levels at the selected traffic routes. We estimated annual PM2.5 exposure of street traders using assigned seasonal PM2.5 levels, and information collected in a structured questionnaire on their activity patterns. Outcomes investigated were self-reported respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms.

Results

PM levels at Accra traffic hotspots were high in both seasons. 1 ug/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure increased respiratory, cardiovascular, and overall symptoms by a factor of 0.00027 (95% CI: 0.00012, 0.00041), 0.00022 (95% CI: 0.00007, 0.00036), and 0.00048 (95% CI: 0.00023, 0.00073), respectively. Compared to office workers, high PM2.5 exposure among street traders was associated with increased odds of coughing, catarrh (postnasal drip), sneezing, rapid heart beating, irregular heartbeat, sharp chest pains, fainting spells, headaches, and dizziness. Low and medium PM2.5 exposure was associated with increased odds of dermatitis, rapid heart beating, and irregular heartbeat, and sharp chest pains, respectively.

Conclusions

We found consistent evidence that PM2.5 exposure among street traders increases the occurrence of respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms. We also provide indicative measurements of PM levels at traffic hotspots of a rapidly growing SSA city with heavy vehicular traffic and yet, limited air quality monitoring capacity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Map of Accra showing the selected traffic routes and the deployed PurpleAir sensors.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shaddick G, Thomas ML, Mudu P, Ruggeri G, Gumy S. Half the world’s population are exposed to increasing air pollution. npj Clim Atmos Sci 2020;3:1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Amegah AK, Agyei-Mensah S. Urban air pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa: time for action. Environ Pollut. 2017;220:738–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Dionisio KL, Arku RE, Hughes AF, Vallarino J, Carmichael H, Spengler JD, et al. Air pollution in Accra neighborhoods: spatial, socioeconomic, and temporal patterns. Environ Sci Technol. 2010a;44:2270–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Dionisio KL, Rooney MS, Arku RE, Friedman AB, Hughes AF, Vallarino J, et al. Within-neighborhood patterns and sources of particle pollution: mobile monitoring and geographic information system analysis in four communities in Accra, Ghana. Environ Health Perspect. 2010;118:607–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rooney MS, Arku RE, Dionisio KL, Paciorek C, Friedman AB, Carmichael H, et al. Spatial and temporal patterns of particulate matter sources and pollution in four communities in Accra, Ghana. Sci Total Environ. 2012;435-436:107–14.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mbewu A, Mbanya JC. Cardiovascular disease. In: Jamison DT, Feachem RG, Makgoba MW, et al. (Eds.), Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2nd edition. World Bank, Washington DC; 2006.

  7. WHO, 2013. A Global Brief on Hypertension. WHO, Geneva. Available. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/79059/1/WHO_DCO_WHD_2013.2_eng.pd.

  8. Parkin DM, Sitas F, Chirenje M, Stein L, Abratt R, Wabinga H. Part I: cancer in Indigenous Africans-burden, distribution, and trends. Lancet Oncol. 2008;9:683–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dalal S, Beunza JJ, Volmink J, Adebamowo C, Bajunirwe F, Njelekela M, et al. Non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa: what we know now. Int J Epidemiol. 2011;40:885–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Katoto PDMC, Byamungu L, Brand AS, Mokaya J, Strijdom H, Goswami N, et al. Ambient air pollution and health in Sub-Saharan Africa: current evidence, perspectives and a call to action. Environ Res. 2019;173:174–88.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. WHO, 2014. Burden of Disease from Ambient Air Pollution for 2012. WHO, Geneva. Available from: http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/AAP_BoD_results_March2014.pdf.

  12. Chafe ZA, Brauer M, Klimont Z, Van Dingenen R, Mehta S, Rao S, et al. Household cooking with solid fuels contributes to ambient PM2.5 air pollution and the burden of disease. Environ Health Perspect. 2014;122:1314–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Department of Urban Roads, Integrated Transport Planning, Twum Boafo & Partners. Infrastructure and Operational Design for Accra Bus-Rapid Transit Route. Draft Final Report. Department of Urban Roads, Ministry of Roads and Highways, Accra, Ghana; 2010.

  14. Okoye V, Sands J, Debrah CA. The Accra pilot bus-rapid transit project: transport-land use research study. Millennium Cities Initiative and Accra Metropolitan Assembly. The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, US; 2010. Available from: http://mci.ei.columbia.edu/files/2013/03/Transport-Land-Use-Research-Study.pdf.

  15. Amegah AK, Jaakkola JJ. Work as a street vendor, associated traffic-related air pollution exposures and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Accra, Ghana. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2014;217:354–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Amegah AK. Proliferation of low-cost sensors. What prospects for air pollution epidemiologic research in Sub-Saharan Africa? Environ Pollut. 2018;241:1132–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Awokola BI, Okello G, Mortimer KJ, Jewell CP, Erhart A, Semple S. Measuring air quality for advocacy in Africa (MA3): Feasibility and practicality of longitudinal ambient PM2.5 measurement using low-cost sensors. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:7243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ofosu FG, Aboh IJ, Bamford SA. Ambient air PM10 particulate levels at Ashaiman near Tema in Ghana. Br J Appl Sci Technol. 2016;12:1–4.

  19. Nyeki S, Li F, Weingartner E, Streit N, Colbeck I, Gäggeler HW, et al. Seasonal and diurnal variability in air pollutants and short-lived climate forcers measured at the Rwanda Climate Observatory. Chem Phys. 2015;15:8889–973.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kim S, Hong KH, Jun H, Park YJ, Park M, Sunwoo Y. Effect of precipitation on air pollutant concentration in Seoul, Korea. Asian J Atmos Environ. 2014;8:202–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Arku RE, Vallarino J, Dionisio KL, Willis R, Choi H, Wilson JG, et al. Characterizing air pollution in two low-income neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana. Sci Total Environ. 2008;402:217–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Aboh IJK, Henriksson D, Laursen J, Lundin M, Ofosu FG, Pind N, et al. Identification of aerosol particle sources in semi-rural area of Kwabenya, near Accra, Ghana, by EDXRF techniques. X-Ray Spectrom: Int J. 2009;38:348–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Hamatui N, Beynon C. Particulate matter and respiratory symptoms among adults living in Windhoek, Namibia: a cross sectional descriptive study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14:110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Ekpenyong CE, Ettebong EO, Akpan EE, Samson TK, Daniel NE. Urban city transportation mode and respiratory health effect of air pollution: a cross-sectional study among transit and non-transit workers in Nigeria. BMJ open. 2012;2:e001253.

  25. Venn A, Yemaneberhan H, Lewis S, Parry E, Britton J. Proximity of the home to roads and the risk of wheeze in an Ethiopian population. Occup Environ Med. 2005;62:376–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Lawin H, Agodokpessi G, Ayelo P, Kagima J, Sonoukon R, Ngahane BH, et al. A cross-sectional study with an improved methodology to assess occupational air pollution exposure and respiratory health in motorcycle taxi driving. Sci Total Environ. 2016;550:1–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Wichmann J, Voyi K. Ambient air pollution exposure and respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality in Cape Town, South Africa: 2001–2006. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012;9:3978–4016.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Howard Appiah Lartey-Young and Alfred Blay for collecting the data for the study. The authors are also grateful to Prof. Darby Jack of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA for generously donating PurpleAir sensors to the Ghana Urban Air Quality Project, the source of exposure data for this study.

Funding

The field data collection was made possible by a consultancy grant from the World Health Organization under the Accra Urban Health Initiative. The funder had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Research Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

    A. Kofi Amegah

  2. World Health Organization Country Office for Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Gordon Dakuu

  3. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

    Pierpaolo Mudu

  4. Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Jouni J. K. Jaakkola

Authors
  1. A. Kofi Amegah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gordon Dakuu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pierpaolo Mudu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jouni J. K. Jaakkola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Kofi Amegah.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Amegah, A.K., Dakuu, G., Mudu, P. et al. Particulate matter pollution at traffic hotspots of Accra, Ghana: levels, exposure experiences of street traders, and associated respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 32, 333–342 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00357-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00357-x

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links