Abstract

CORTEZ-LUGO, Marlene; HOLGUIN-MOLINA, Fernando; FLORES-LUEVANO, Silvia  and  ROMIEU, Isabelle. Environmental PM_2.5 levels and distance from a heavy traffic road in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2004, vol.46, n.6, pp.534-537. ISSN 0036-3634.

OBJECTIVE: To assess PM_2.5 levels at different distances from a heavy traffic road. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Daily measurements of PM_2.5 were taken between August 26 and 30, 2002, at different distances from Tecnológico Avenue in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics for each distance and Kruskal Wallis and cross trend for ranks. RESULTS: We found a significantly decreasing trend of PM_2.5 median levels with increasing distance from Tecnológico Avenue (p< 0.001). At 100 m distance from the avenue, PM_2.5 levels decreased by 9.5 µg/m3 (40.6%) when compared to median levels registered on the avenue. The results showed a highly significant negative correlation between PM_2.5 measurements and the distance from the avenue (r=-0.70, n=20 and p=0.0005). CONCLUSIONS: PM_2.5 median levels decreased significantly after 100 meters from heavy traffic roads. These results are of great relevance when assessing exposure to PM_2.5 in epidemiological studies.

Keywords : PM_2.5; heavy traffic roads; Mexico.

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