Impact of Urban Emissions on Regional Air Quality in Fez City Area, Morocco

An intensive field campaign was conducted to investigate the chemical composition of particles simultaneously at the remote Mohammed V observatory (AMV) and the urban city of Fez in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. This study aimed to assess the regional air quality and health impact of exposure to PM10. Aerosol sampling was carried out using a particle collector PM10. Various laboratory analyses were performed, including particle mass, OC/EC, inorganic ions, trace metals, and a wide range of organic species. The results show that the PM mass has a similar trend at both sites. However, the mass concentration was twice as high at the Fez urban site (62 μg m−3) than at AMV (35 μg m−3). Anthropogenic metals, dominated by Cr, Cu, and Ni, increased by about 62% at the urban site of Fez. PAHs at Fez were two times higher with high contributions of Fluorene, Retene, Phenanthrene, and Benz (a) anthracene, resulting mainly from vehicular emission, typical for industrial emission, waste incineration, and other combustion processes.