West Africa: Human-induced air pollution is higher than expected

Emissions of volatile organic pollutants in West Africa are 100 to 150 times higher than current estimates for the region, according to a study by researchers from the CNRS and Université Clermont-Auvergne, in collaboration with the Institut Mines Télécom Lille-Douai and Université Felix Houphouët-Boigny (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire).

The results, obtained from field measurements carried out as part of the European DACCIWA program, highlight the urgent need to set up more realistic and appropriate regional emission inventories in order to better predict their impacts on health, air quality and climate.

The study, which took place in Côte d'Ivoire and focused on emissions from road traffic, waste combustion and domestic fires, shows that they far exceed those of all the European countries combined.

The paper will be published on 24 September 2019 in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.