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According to the State of the Global Air 2020 report, ambient air pollution was responsible for around 5,000 premature deaths in Kenya in 2019 alone. It is the fourth most important risk factor for leading to death and disability combined in Kenya. In fact, the 2017 national economic survey estimated that 19.9 million Kenyans suffer from respiratory illnesses that are exacerbated by poor air quality.
Kenya’s national environmental management agency imposed regulations in 2014 for national ambient air quality standards. These establish the maximum permissible concentrations of different generalized pollutants for residential and industrial areas. The regulation also establishes the steps to follow for the “prevention, control and abatement” of pollution in recognition of the cost it has for health.
However, until now, enforcement of these regulations has been minimal due to a lack of high-quality air quality monitoring data to compare with standards. Pollution measurements from government-operated regulatory monitors around the world are considered the gold standard by the scientific community. This is because such instruments produce high-quality estimates of air quality concentrations to accurately identify whether standards are being met.
These measurements are widely used to assess the health consequences of pollution, trends in air pollution around the world, major sources, and the impact of policies on air quality. These efforts have been crucial in the development of effective air pollution mitigation plans.
In Kenya, there are no official air quality monitoring data available to the public. But there have been 33 air pollution studies reporting widespread pollutant concentrations in Kenya since the early 1980s. Most of these studies were carried out in Nairobi. Many are limited, in space, time, and instrumentation.
And yet, taken together, they provide consistent and important information on pollution in Nairobi. My analysis of this accumulated evidence reveals that particulate matter in some parts of Nairobi, such as the Industrial Zone district, where factories coexist with crowded poor settlements, were not safe since the early 1980s.
The review also points to gaps in our understanding of air pollution in Kenya. This could inspire more specific research to fill in the gaps.
High levels of pollution
Emissions from industrial sources have been found to be major sources of pollution. Multiple studies have shown that air pollution levels in poor neighborhoods exhibit fine particulate levels of several 100 μg / m3, an order of magnitude higher than current standards. These neighborhoods include Korogocho to the north of Nairobi, Viwanda to the east, and Kibera to the south.
All studies show that vehicle emissions are a major source of pollution in Nairobi. The black carbon produced by the incomplete combustion of fuel, which is normally produced from older vehicles, forms a large fraction of particulate matter in Nairobi, with levels among the highest in the world.
Other research has found that the fuel economy of vehicles in Nairobi is 2-3 times worse than in countries such as Japan, India and China, from where these vehicles tend to be imported. The studies also found much higher levels of lead and manganese (petroleum fuel additives) in Nairobi than in European countries in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Less work has been done to assess the levels after 2006, when leaded gasoline was phased out.
These findings present evidence for lawmakers to urgently enforce the ban on importing vehicles over a certain age. They suggest the need to improve infrastructure to allow non-motorized transport in Nairobi to serve the majority of the population who do not own a car. They speak of the need to incorporate concerns about air pollution into the environmental impact assessment of transportation-related projects, such as the construction of new roads in the city.
The literature review also provides evidence that sources of pollution in the Nairobi industrial zone need to be mitigated. The national environmental management authority requires industrial facilities to contract designated laboratories with the necessary equipment to report smokestack emissions. Arrangements should be made for ongoing monitoring in accordance with the 2014 regulations. As a first step, this emissions data should be made public so that key polluters are identified and action can be taken.
The review also points to gaps in our understanding of air pollution in Kenya that could inspire more specific research to fill in the gaps. For example, few studies report the concentrations of gaseous pollutants. These include volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, and surface ozone, which are likely to be high in the industrial area. Furthermore, most of the research done so far has focused on Nairobi. Little work has been done to characterize air quality in other cities and towns, including the busy port of Mombasa.
More work is also needed to track the impacts of different transport policies and interventions on pollution in Nairobi. There is an urgent need to establish a continuous real-time air quality monitoring system to capture such information. This review, however, suggests that there are certain policy interventions that can and should be made based on our current understanding of air pollution patterns in Kenya.
This review also reveals larger gaps in the air pollution governance infrastructure in Kenya. Specifically, the review finds that many studies have been conducted by researchers from the Kenya Meteorological Department using official air quality monitors. Some of these studies show that air pollution levels in Nairobi violate current standards. However, the data from many of these studies are not publicly available. The department currently charges for this data. A push is needed to make these data more transparent for scientific and political purposes.
Small steps forward
Kenyan researchers have partnered with legislators to form the Kenya Air Quality Network to develop evidence-based air pollution management plans. Thanks to these efforts, Nairobi County has become the first to design an air quality action plan. These political efforts need to be supported.
It is also important to highlight ongoing initiatives in Kenya’s citizen science space. For example, Code for Africa has partnered with journalists, providing them with low-cost air quality monitors so they can track and monitor specific factories that residents have long complained about.
This work has been instrumental in raising public awareness about air pollution. These studies highlight the value of strategic partnerships between scientists and advocates to achieve common goals. These efforts can and should inspire future research design and questions about air pollution science in Kenya, and should be taken seriously.
Priyanka deSouza does not work, consult, own stock, or receive funds from any company or organization that benefits from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.
By Priyanka deSouza, PhD Researcher in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
