Análisis de la calidad del aire ambiente en el casco central de la parroquia rural El Valle del cantón Cuenca-Ecuador

Abstract

Globally, air quality has been disturbed in recent years by anthropic activities which has caused the degradation of the flora, fauna and health of people. This project seeks to evaluate the ambient air quality of the El Valle parish in the Cuenca canton through of pollutants such as: noise (Sound Pressure Level), sediment material, particulate material (PM10 and PM2.5). For this study 12 sampling points were considered. For Sound Pressure Level analysis a brand sound level meter (TESTO t-816-1) with IEC 61672-1 Class 2 specifications was used; for the determination of the concentrations of particulate material (PM10 and PM2.5) an automatic equipment DustScan ScoutTN model 3020 was utilized, and for the study of sedimentable material the methodology “Method 502 methodology: Air sampling and analysis method, 3rd. Edition, Intersociety Committee, Lewis Publishers, Inc. 1988” was employed which is stipulated in the Unified Text of Secondary Environmental Legislation of the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador. The monitoring was carried out during the months of June and July of 2019. For noise monitoring the measurement time was 1 hour during the rush hours (06: 30h to 07: 30h, 12: 30h to 13: 30h and 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.). The monitoring time of particulate material (PM10 and PM2.5) was 30 minutes with each filter. The recorded sound pressure levels ranged from 44.31 dB to 76.33 dB; these results exceeding the national regulations corresponding to 83 % of the monitoring sites. The concentrations of particulate material PM10 ranged from 5.56 µg/m3 to 118.81 µg/m3 where 17 % of monitored sites do not comply with national regulations; for PM2.5 the concentrations ranged from 3.20 µg/m3 to 131.27 µg/m3 where 42 % of the monitoring sites failed to comply with national regulations, and finally, the concentrations of sediment material oscillated from 0.22 mg/cm2 to 4.24 mg/cm2 where 33 % of the monitoring sites do not comply with national regulations. It is concluded that in the 3 monitoring points locate on the main CuencaSígsig road presented high sound pressure levels high concentration of particulate material (PM10 and PM2.5) and sediment material; being the main emitting source the vehicular flow.