School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-30-2023

Abstract

Air pollution is a major public health concern. The region of South Texas in the United States has experienced high levels of air pollution in recent years due to an increase in population, cross-border trade between the U.S.A. and Mexico, and high vehicular activity. This review assesses the relationships between human health and air pollution in South Texas. A thorough scientific search was performed using PubMed, Science Direct, and ProQuest, with most of the literature focusing on the source apportionment of particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less in width (PM2.5), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), Black Carbon (BC), and associated health risks for children and pregnant women. Findings from the source apportionment studies suggest the role of industries, automobiles emissions, agricultural burning, construction work, and unpaved roads in the overall deterioration of air quality and deleterious health effects, such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. This review demonstrates the pressing need for more air pollution and health effects studies in this region, especially the Brownsville–Harlingen–McAllen metropolitan area.

Comments

© 2023 by the authors.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Title

Air

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/air1020008

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