DOCTORS yesterday welcomed news that a new dust concentration predictor could be in place as early as this July.
The announcement was made by Labour Ministry Air Quality Department head Savvas Kleanthous.
He said the department, in collaboration with the University of Thessaloniki, had devised a programme predicting not only the presence of dust in the atmosphere but the concentration of dust levels on an hourly basis.
“This will be indicated on national maps of Cyprus and on maps of each town separately,” Kleanthous said.
He said the programme would be ready for use sometime during the second half of the year and hoped that television networks would include the maps as part of their weather forecasts.
“This is good because, for example, children will know whether they should do physical education or not,” he said.
Nicosia general hospital lung specialist Dr Tonia Adamides said the notion of a dust predictor was a good one.
“Dust storms blow in from far away, so it would be good to know when they are coming. Vulnerable groups – such as children, the elderly, heart patients, asthmatics and people who suffer from respiratory conditions – can then take precautions,” she said.
“Medication dosages could be increased, they could stay indoors and other measures.”
Kleanthous’ and Adamides’ were speaking after hundreds of people were affected at the weekend by extremely high concentrations of dust in the atmosphere blown in from the Sahara. Many were also rushed to hospitals suffering from allergies, coughing attacks and wheezing.
Thankfully yesterday’s weather conditions, including brief showers, helped disperse the dust. Kleanthous said he hoped daily average PM10 level (airborne particulate matter measuring less than 10 micrometres in diameter) recordings would go back down to 50 µg/m3, which is the acceptable limit over a 24 hour period.
On Saturday, Kleanthous said daily average PM10 levels had in some areas been as high as 10 times the acceptable limit and over eight times as high on Sunday.
Nevertheless there were points during Saturday when dust concentration recordings at the Ayia Marina Xyliatou monitoring station had been as high as 1,116 µg/m3.
“These were extreme measurements recorded at a particular time,” he said.
Kleanthous said climatic changes and desertification had resulted in an increase in dust storms from Africa and the Middle East.
“This period now in the spring especially we have very frequent incidences of dust from the Sahara,” he said.
“We are going to have more [dust storms] we just don’t know when. We see the situation worsening year in and year out. In the past we had [them] in February, some in March and they ended in May, possibly June.
“This year they started in January and last year we had some in November and December. Theoretically it could be the same this year. Instead of it being a few months of the year, it can now be at any time throughout the year. Because of the climatic changes, no one can predict anymore.”
Analyses of the dust collected at monitoring stations indicated that 75 per cent of the dust was not indigenous to Cyprus, with dust particles blowing over from as far away as the Balkans, he added.
“So we can’t do much to reduce it. There is an action plan to reduce dust from cars, industry and pollution but we can’t do anything about dust that comes from Africa or the Middle East,” he said.
Kleanthous said the dust was also analysed for heavy metals and other elements but that so far there was nothing to worry about, with levels much below the standard limits.
But according to the lung specialist, germs and funguses had a tendency to bind with dust particles and could therefore spread disease.
Adamides said Valley Fever in the United States had been attributed to the inhalation of a fungus which became airborne when dust transported it in the wind.
Whether this occurs in Cyprus is not known as airborne particulate matter is not analysed for the presence of germs or fungus.
n Air quality data is recorded hourly and presented on the department’s website (www.airquality.gov.cy) and on display indoor and outdoor panels at the Citizen’s Bureau and the Labour Ministry
