Temporal dynamics of ground-level ozone and its impact on morbidity in Almaty city in comparison with Astana city, Kazakhstan

Respiratory diseases are nowadays much related to environmental factors such as air pollution. In this sense, it is considered that the annual and the daily courses of ground-level ozone concentrations affect the respiratory systems. A study of ground-level ozone concentration (GO) in the city of Almaty is developed attending to the general content of ozone in the atmosphere as one of sources of ground ozone. The study analyzed the annual and daily course of total ground-level ozone in Almaty. It is shown that the dynamics of its concentrations depends on many factors such as large-scale circulation in the Central Asian region, solar radiation, local mountain valley circulation, and the time of year. Geographic location, motor vehicles traffic intensity, and some specific synoptic conditions can also dramatically affect the daily course of ground-level ozone, promoting formation of two maximum concentration peaks, and one deep minimum concentration between them. The main maximum was fixated at 1:0 p.m., the secondary one at 1:0 a.m. The main minimum was not stable throughout the year. It was fixated at 7:0 p.m. in cold seasons and at 7:0 a.m. in warm seasons. The mean concentration of ground-level ozone from February to November was higher than average permitted concentrations. During 1-2 months, this measurement was higher than MAC (Maximum Allowable Concentrations). High concentration of GO is related to an increase on the number of cases with respiratory problems mainly in the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan.