Assessment of Ambient Air Quality Level at Different Areas inside Dammam University, Case Study

The air pollution problem inside university campuses has different sources, including the traffic activity inside the campus, lab works and the transportation of air pollutants from the surrounding areas and activities. The aim of this study is to assess levels of air pollutants at different areas inside the campus of University of Dammam (UD). Different air pollutants were measured including PM10, CO2, CO, SO2, NO2, O3 and VOCs. At the same time, the atmospheric temperature and relative humidity were recorded. Levels of the selected air pollutants were measured at two different durations of the day (early morning and late afternoon) during the studying and holiday periods of the academic year 2011 - 2012. Levels of all pollutants during the morning rush hours of the studying periods were higher than those during the other periods (holidays and afternoon periods). In addition, the highest levels of air pollutants were found at the main gate and administration building that are characterized by high traffic movement compared with the other sites inside the UD campus. These results indicated that the main source of air pollution inside UD campus is the traffic activity. The mean levels of PM10 at most selected sites were higher than the recommended air quality guidelines.