Abstract

Gaza strip have (32) concrete production factories distributed in all Gaza strip governorates, and it's a large number when compared with the geographical area. So, the target population of the study is all concrete production factories in Gaza strip. This study is a massive survey conducted during the period of April to August 2015, and designed to identify the environmental impacts of concrete production factories and its workers and its geographical distribution by using geographical information systems (GIS) in all concrete production Factories in Gaza strip governorates. There are 32 factories and the total number of workers in is 290; as a result, it was concluded that particulate matter concentration from the concrete factories varies widely from 83 to 212 μg/m3, with an average particulate matter of 147 μg/m3, which is about more than 4 times higher than the particulate matter existing standard of 35 μg/m3, so these concentrations can lead to adverse environmental impacts. Geographic distribution of concrete production factories in Gaza Strip was shown by using geographical information system and respiratory tract symptoms reported in this study among the factories workers from emitted particulate matter air pollution were cough, sputum build-up and dyspnea; these symptoms were found to be related to exposure of PM air pollution.

Key words: Geographical, concrete factories, geographical information systems (GIS), adverse effects, Gaza Strip.