Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Air Pollution and Health 2476-3071 11 1 2026 04 21 55 76 Samuel Nketia Boateng https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5840-5092 Felicia Takyi https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4682-0762 Gertrude Oboh University of Cape Coast Harriet Ampoful Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Sustainable Engineering, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana AND Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana Josephine Kuttor University of Cape Coast Albert Duncan University of Cape Coast 2025 07 18 2026 02 07 Introduction: The nature of heavy pollution incidence that plagues the South East Asian (SEAR) Region and the African region demands the understanding of air pollution dynamics within these regions to inform policy formulation to improve environmental health. This study therefore aims to grasp the transformation of air pollutants in the last 10 years in the two regions and their potential to influence respiratory health. Materials and methods: This study used the 6th edition of the ambient air quality data from the WHO website, which was revised and published on January 22, 2024. 1609 dataset was used for this research, spanning the 16 countries. Results: The results of the analysis show that in the last 10 years, the mean PM10 (64.15 ± 40.38 g/m³), PM2.5 (22.98 ± 23.65 g/m3 ), and NO₂ (8.83 ± 7.99 g/m³) were 64.15 ± 40.38 g/m³, 22.98 ± 23.65 g/m³, and 8.83 ± 7.99 g/m³, respectively. Consequently, the air quality index for PM10 and PM2.5 stands at 57.73 and 96.59 for the African Region and 55.53 and 74.61 for SEAR, indicating a satisfactory air quality. The principal component analysis showed that NO₂ exposure and monitoring explained 39.91% of the variance in the data, while component 2 (PM10 and PM2.5) explained 19.43%. The regression model showed that PM10 temporal coverage can be used to predict NO₂ concentration. Indicating that better cover for PM10 can be used to estimate NO2 concentration. Conclusion: This study has highlighted that temporal coverage can be a useful means for air pollutant estimation. Hence, governments should increase monitoring of air pollutants, in this peak era of industrialisation to capture the many unquantified contaminants. https://japh.tums.ac.ir/index.php/japh/article/view/1014 https://japh.tums.ac.ir/index.php/japh/article/download/1014/463