Ambient air quality monitoring during Nawruz festival in Duhok city, Iraq

Nawruz is one of the most fabulous festivals celebrated in Kurdistan of Iraq (KOI) with joy and happiness. Nawruz is celebrated by people from diverse ethnic communities and religious backgrounds for thousands of years. During Nawruz festival, which held annually in KOI, thousands of firecrackers are set off, in an intense pyrotechnic spectacle. Firework displays are high-intensity anthropogenic activities that create notable air pollution and obvious short-term air-quality degradation. The study was conducted to determine the trends and variations of air pollution levels at Duhok city (DC), Iraq, as well as to create awareness about air pollution through availability of scientific monitoring data. The average concentration of SO2, and NO2 in DC area was slightly higher than the standard prescribed limit. While the average concentration of CO in DC area was almost lower than the WHO guidelines value. The concentration of particulate matters (PM) was ~ 5 times higher on festive day as compared to the non festive day at the study site of DC.