Abstract
In the period 2013–2015, PM2.5 and PM10 outdoor and indoor concentrations were measured on 23 days in cold half-year periods, in Kraków, Poland. Air pollution is still a serious health hazard for the inhabitants as Kraków is located in a concave landform and smog episodes occur often in the city during the heating periods, due to poor natural ventilation and frequent air temperature inversions. The PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were studied for very good and very poor weather conditions concerning air pollution. Each subgroup was further divided into cases when the apartments’ windows were kept open or closed. Daily courses of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were very dynamic. Weather pattern, in particular wind speed and atmospheric stability, largely determined the concentrations of PM10 in ambient air. The share of PM2.5 in PM10 indoor concentrations reached around 70% for both types of weather conditions. The share of indoor PM10 and PM2.5 mean concentrations in the outdoor values was higher during good than during poor weather conditions by about 10%.
Highlights
Particles PM2.5 and PM10 are primary factors of adverse health effects from air pollution (e.g., Wallace 2000; Pope and Dockery 2006; World Health Organization 2013; Taneepanichskul et al 2018; Paoin et al 2020)
The aim of the paper is to show the impact of ambient weather conditions, and wind speed in particular, on indoor air pollution with PM10 and PM2.5 during the cold half-year (Oct.—Mar.) in the city of Kraków, Poland
In the case of PM10, the allowed outdoor mean daily value of 50 μg m−3 was slightly exceeded only on 3 days during good weather conditions, while during poor conditions the limit was largely exceeded on all days
Summary
Particles PM2.5 and PM10 are primary factors of adverse health effects from air pollution (e.g., Wallace 2000; Pope and Dockery 2006; World Health Organization 2013; Taneepanichskul et al 2018; Paoin et al 2020). As the urban population increases and the cities’ inhabitants spend more and more time indoors (e.g., Wallace 1996; Almeida-Silva et al 2014), the exposure to indoor air pollution (such as, PM2.5 and PM10) becomes an important health risk (e.g., Blondeau et al 2005; Ścibor et al 2019a). Weather conditions are considered mainly as a factor contributing to ambient air quality, due to their role in the dispersion, transformation, and removal of atmospheric pollutants from the atmosphere (e.g., Li et al 2015; Deng et al 2019). Precipitation has a great impact on concentrations of particulate matter and it mainly washes out coarse particles while have little effect on
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