Skip to content

Development of a health-relevant exposure index for volcanic emissions: example from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption, La Palma, Canary Islands

Julia Eychenne 1,2, Raphaël Paris1, Agnes Borbon3, Guilhem Gisbert Pinto4, María Cristo Rodríguez-Pérez5, Manuel Enrique Fuentes Ferrer5,6, David E. Jessop1, Aurélie Colomb3, Francisco-Jose Perez-Torrado4, Séverine Moune1, David E. Damby7

  • Affiliations: 1 Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, IRD, OPGC, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France 2 Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, Institut Génétique, Reproduction et Développement, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France 3 Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaMP, OPGC, Clermont-Ferrand, France 4 Instituto de Estudios Ambientales y Recursos Naturales (iUNAT), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain 5 Research Unit University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria and Primary Care Authority of Tenerife, Canary Health Service, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain 6 Preventive Medicine Department, University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Canary Health Service, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain 7 Volcano Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Moffett Field, CA, USA

  • Presentation type: Talk [Invited]

  • Presentation time: Monday 15:45 - 16:00, Room R290

  • Programme No: 6.6.1

  • Theme 6 > Session 6

Abstract

Volcanic eruptions inject vast amounts of particles and gases into the atmosphere, which degrade the ambient air quality and impact soils, vegetation and water resources upon deposition. To study the direct and indirect consequences of these eruptive phenomena on human health, it is necessary to quantify what people are exposed to during volcanic eruptions. To achieve this goal, we have developed an exposure index accounting for the volcanic gas and particulate matter (PM) pollution in the ambient air and the deposition of volcanic products on the ground. We used the 3-month 2021 mafic eruption of Tajogaite on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, as a case study. This eruption was characterized by emplacement of lava flows and production of tephra and gases in multiple sustained plumes. We analyzed the spatiotemporal variations in tephra sedimentation using a tephra collection network and satellite data, and in air quality using the Government of the Canary Islands regulatory monitoring network on island. We correlated peaks in tephra sedimentation and air quality and related them to the eruption dynamics at the vent and the atmospheric conditions. We mapped the cumulative mass of tephra deposited per unit area during the eruption around the island. We also quantified exceedances of WHO Air Quality Guidelines for PM10, PM2.5 and SO2 and mapped their occurrences. These data allowed for construction of a spatialized exposure index accounting for multiple products of volcanic emissions that can be assigned to individuals based on geographic location and subsequently used in epidemiological studies.