Work

Analysis and Characterization of the Behavior of Air Pollutants and Their Relationship with Climate Variability in the Main Industrial Zones of Hidalgo State, México

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The concentration of air pollutants could be affected by climate change in industrial park zones in Hidalgo state, Mexico (IPHSs). The goals of this work were: (a) to describe the aerosols’ behavior (PM10 and PM2.5) and air pollutants (SO2, NO2, O3, and CO) in the IPHSs and (b) determine the climate variable behavior regarding the presence in IPHSs. The methodology consisted of structuring the time series of climate variables and air pollutants in six analysis regions. Afterwards, an annual average calculation, a count of days exceeding the allowed limits set by the official Mexican norms, an analysis of annual behavior by season, the Sen slope calculation, and correlation among variables were performed. Results demonstrated that Zone 2 is the most polluted, exceeding the allowed limits in the annual average (PM10 > 36 μg/m3, PM2.5 > 10 μg/m3, and NO2 > 0.021 ppm) and having more than 1000, 96, and 11 days where the daily limit was exceeded in PM10, PM2.5, and SO2, respectively. The minimum concentrations of the pollutants were observed during the summer–autumn seasons, coinciding with the highest precipitation. Regarding the correlations, the pollutants are negatively and statistically significantly correlated with precipitation (ranging from −0.81 to −0.43); meanwhile, the maximum temperature (ranging from +0.41 to +0.51) and evaporation (ranging from +0.39 to +0.54) are positively and statistically significantly correlated. In conclusion, the results could suggest that the presence of pollutants in the atmosphere may be influenced by the behavior of nearby regional climatic conditions in the IPHSs.

Source: Earth

DOI: 10.3390/earth6040144