Analysis of transported pollution and haze-related diseases via HYSPLIT Trajectory Modelling in the urbanized area of Johor, Malaysia

Abstract

Exposure to the haze pollutants may cause a diverse range of health impacts including symptoms that lead to treatment-seeking behavior, outpatient and emergency department visits, and hospitalization for moderate and severe cases and mortality for the worst-case scenarios. This study is carried out as an effort to understand how the haze occurrence that has been plaguing South East Asia affect the health of the citizen in Malaysia, particularly in Johor due to its close proximity to Sumatra which has been identified as one of the hotspots for frequent forest fires. The study is done in Larkin and Pasir Gudang where health cases caused by poor air quality such as conjunctivitis, URTI and asthma have been identified while HYSPLIT model indicates the trajectory of the wind at different heights to help us understand how wind movement during the selected time of the year causes haze formation. The findings of this study showed that low wind heights below 2000m AGL in September cause particular matter accumulation over Malaysia as the wind over Malaysia. In turn, this causes high API reading which leads to higher conjunctivitis, URTI and asthma cases. The investigation of the exposure and health risks of the air pollutants through a risk-based approach will definitely be beneficial in providing new information about the correlation between health risks and air pollution in Johor, which may also have implications on the environmental and social policies.