Atmospheric BTX measurements in the urban-industrial site of Anza, northwest of Agadir City, Morocco

In Morocco, air pollution is mainly due to road traffic and industrial sources. Until today, only standard gases such as NO, NO2 CO, SO2 and O3, as well as PM10, are continuously monitored in the Moroccan large cities. VOC measurements are very rare. This paper presents for the first time the results of measurement campaigns of BTX in a small town with industrial character, Anza locality, located 7 km northwest of the city of Agadir (southwestern Morocco). The BTX measurements were conducted from February 2012 to November 2012. Benzene, toluene, and the three isomers of xylene were quantified in ambient air in four places carefully selected to reflect the main activities in the city. The outdoor average concentrations of benzene, toluene and xylenes were 12.9 μ g.m-3, 36.9 μ g.m-3 and 16.2 μ g.m-3 respectively. No seasonal variation was observed. The fluctuation concentrations are attributed to starting up of the activities and variations flow of cars. The wind is the meteorological factor which drives the observed results. An important decrease of the BTX concentrations was observed in 2012 compared to the values obtained in 2007.