Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants

Moune, Séverine; Navarrete, Wilman; Nedelec, Jean Marie; Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro; Tomašek, Ines; Vilches, Jon; Perez-Torrado, Francisco Jose; Eychenne, Julia; Paris, Raphael; Borbon, Agnès; Jessop, David; Gouhier, Mathieu; Gisbert Pinto, Guillem; Calafat Frau, Antoni; Colomb, Aurélie; Fernández Turiel, José Luis; Gaussen, Vincent; Gorce, Clara

Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants

Volcanic eruptions inject particles (tephra) and gases into the atmosphere, impacting air quality. To provide new insights into this process, we focus on the 3-month-long 2021 Tajogaite eruption, on La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. This eruption emplaced lava flows and produced tephra and gase...

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Autores:	Moune, Séverine, Navarrete, Wilman, Nedelec, Jean Marie, Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro, Tomašek, Ines, Vilches, Jon, Perez-Torrado, Francisco Jose, Eychenne, Julia, Paris, Raphael, Borbon, Agnès, Jessop, David, Gouhier, Mathieu, Gisbert Pinto, Guillem, Calafat Frau, Antoni, Colomb, Aurélie, Fernández Turiel, José Luis, Gaussen, Vincent, Gorce, Clara
Tipo de recurso:	artículo
Estado:	Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:	2026
País:	España
Institución:	Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:	Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:	oai:dnet:recercat____::41457ca3d4d79433ef28cfe36af8cd75
Acceso en línea:	https://hdl.handle.net/2445/228804
Access Level:	acceso abierto
Palabra clave:	Cendres volcàniques Previsió de l'activitat volcànica Erupcions volcàniques Contaminació atmosfèrica Volcans Qualitat de l'aire Volcanic ash Volcanic activity prediction Volcanic eruptions Atmospheric pollution Volcanoes Air quality

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spelling	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutantsMoune, SéverineNavarrete, WilmanNedelec, Jean MarieRodriguez-Gonzalez, AlejandroTomašek, InesVilches, JonPerez-Torrado, Francisco JoseEychenne, JuliaParis, RaphaelBorbon, AgnèsJessop, DavidGouhier, MathieuGisbert Pinto, GuillemCalafat Frau, AntoniColomb, AurélieFernández Turiel, José LuisGaussen, VincentGorce, ClaraCendres volcàniquesPrevisió de l'activitat volcànicaErupcions volcàniquesContaminació atmosfèricaVolcansQualitat de l'aireVolcanic ashVolcanic activity predictionVolcanic eruptionsAtmospheric pollutionVolcanoesAir qualityVolcanic eruptions inject particles (tephra) and gases into the atmosphere, impacting air quality. To provide new insights into this process, we focus on the 3-month-long 2021 Tajogaite eruption, on La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. This eruption emplaced lava flows and produced tephra and gases in multiple sustained plumes. We examined the relationship between air quality, tephra dispersion and deposition, and eruption dynamics. We reconstructed the spatiotemporal variations in tephra deposition using a collection network deployed around the island and maintained throughout the eruption, while plume dispersion was tracked using satellite observations. These datasets were compared to the air quality monitoring data from the local regulatory network using time-series analyses. Our findings reveal distinct peaks in tephra deposition rates (a few g/m2/h 20 km away from the vent, up to more than 2000 g/m2/h at locations less than 3 km from the vent), related to both increased explosive activity at the volcanic vents and specific atmospheric conditions. We show that the fluctuations of tephra emission were the main driver of the particulate matter (PM) concentration variations, outweighing contributions from secondary aerosol formation through volcanic SO2 conversion. We evidence spatial disparity in the impact on air quality, with the western half of La Palma island experiencing higher amplitude and more frequent pollution peaks than the eastern half. We demonstrate that even low-explosivity basaltic eruptions can significantly affect air quality by generating and dispersing fine PM and gases over wide areas. Moreover, elevated PM concentrations persist beyond the duration of intense tephra deposition episodes, thereby extending the period of population exposure. These results have important implications for understanding and mitigating human exposure to volcanic pollutants.Elsevier B.V.2026202620262026info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion14 p.application/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/228804Articles publicats en revistes (Dinàmica de la Terra i l'Oceà)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181551Science of the Total Environment, 2026, vol. 1019https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181551cc-by (c) Moune, Séverine et al., 2026https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:recercat____::41457ca3d4d79433ef28cfe36af8cd752026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
title	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
spellingShingle	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants Moune, Séverine Cendres volcàniques Previsió de l'activitat volcànica Erupcions volcàniques Contaminació atmosfèrica Volcans Qualitat de l'aire Volcanic ash Volcanic activity prediction Volcanic eruptions Atmospheric pollution Volcanoes Air quality
title_short	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
title_full	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
title_fullStr	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
title_full_unstemmed	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
title_sort	Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv	Moune, Séverine Navarrete, Wilman Nedelec, Jean Marie Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro Tomašek, Ines Vilches, Jon Perez-Torrado, Francisco Jose Eychenne, Julia Paris, Raphael Borbon, Agnès Jessop, David Gouhier, Mathieu Gisbert Pinto, Guillem Calafat Frau, Antoni Colomb, Aurélie Fernández Turiel, José Luis Gaussen, Vincent Gorce, Clara
author	Moune, Séverine
author_facet	Moune, Séverine Navarrete, Wilman Nedelec, Jean Marie Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro Tomašek, Ines Vilches, Jon Perez-Torrado, Francisco Jose Eychenne, Julia Paris, Raphael Borbon, Agnès Jessop, David Gouhier, Mathieu Gisbert Pinto, Guillem Calafat Frau, Antoni Colomb, Aurélie Fernández Turiel, José Luis Gaussen, Vincent Gorce, Clara
author_role	author
author2	Navarrete, Wilman Nedelec, Jean Marie Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro Tomašek, Ines Vilches, Jon Perez-Torrado, Francisco Jose Eychenne, Julia Paris, Raphael Borbon, Agnès Jessop, David Gouhier, Mathieu Gisbert Pinto, Guillem Calafat Frau, Antoni Colomb, Aurélie Fernández Turiel, José Luis Gaussen, Vincent Gorce, Clara
author2_role	author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv	Cendres volcàniques Previsió de l'activitat volcànica Erupcions volcàniques Contaminació atmosfèrica Volcans Qualitat de l'aire Volcanic ash Volcanic activity prediction Volcanic eruptions Atmospheric pollution Volcanoes Air quality
topic	Cendres volcàniques Previsió de l'activitat volcànica Erupcions volcàniques Contaminació atmosfèrica Volcans Qualitat de l'aire Volcanic ash Volcanic activity prediction Volcanic eruptions Atmospheric pollution Volcanoes Air quality
description	Volcanic eruptions inject particles (tephra) and gases into the atmosphere, impacting air quality. To provide new insights into this process, we focus on the 3-month-long 2021 Tajogaite eruption, on La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. This eruption emplaced lava flows and produced tephra and gases in multiple sustained plumes. We examined the relationship between air quality, tephra dispersion and deposition, and eruption dynamics. We reconstructed the spatiotemporal variations in tephra deposition using a collection network deployed around the island and maintained throughout the eruption, while plume dispersion was tracked using satellite observations. These datasets were compared to the air quality monitoring data from the local regulatory network using time-series analyses. Our findings reveal distinct peaks in tephra deposition rates (a few g/m2/h 20 km away from the vent, up to more than 2000 g/m2/h at locations less than 3 km from the vent), related to both increased explosive activity at the volcanic vents and specific atmospheric conditions. We show that the fluctuations of tephra emission were the main driver of the particulate matter (PM) concentration variations, outweighing contributions from secondary aerosol formation through volcanic SO2 conversion. We evidence spatial disparity in the impact on air quality, with the western half of La Palma island experiencing higher amplitude and more frequent pollution peaks than the eastern half. We demonstrate that even low-explosivity basaltic eruptions can significantly affect air quality by generating and dispersing fine PM and gases over wide areas. Moreover, elevated PM concentrations persist beyond the duration of intense tephra deposition episodes, thereby extending the period of population exposure. These results have important implications for understanding and mitigating human exposure to volcanic pollutants.
publishDate	2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv	2026 2026 2026 2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv	info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format	article
status_str	publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv	https://hdl.handle.net/2445/228804
url	https://hdl.handle.net/2445/228804
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv	Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv	Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv	Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181551 Science of the Total Environment, 2026, vol. 1019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181551
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv	cc-by (c) Moune, Séverine et al., 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv	cc-by (c) Moune, Séverine et al., 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv	openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv	14 p. application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv	Elsevier B.V.
publisher.none.fl_str_mv	Elsevier B.V.
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv	Articles publicats en revistes (Dinàmica de la Terra i l'Oceà) reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str	Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str	Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection	Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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Impact of volcanic emissions on the air quality during the 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite, La Palma: Implications for population exposure to volcanic pollutants

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