Abstract
This work presents results from the long-term measurements of particle number carried out at an urban background station in Zabrze, Poland. Ambient particles with aerodynamic diameters of between 28 nm and 10 μm were investigated by means of a DEKATI thirteen-stage electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI). The particle number-size distribution was bimodal, whilst its density function had the local maxima in the aerodynamic diameter intervals 0.056–0.095 μm and 0.157–0.263 μm. The average particle number in winter was nearly twice as high as in summer. The greatest number concentrations in winter were those of the particles with diameters of between 0.617 and 2.41 μm, that is, the anthropogenic particles from fossil fuel combustion. Approximately 99% of the particles observed in Zabrze had aerodynamic diameters ≤1 μm—they may have originated from the combustion of biomass, liquid, and gaseous fuels in domestic stoves or in car engines. The daily variation of particle number was similar for both seasons—the highest values were observed in the morning (traffic rush hour) and in the afternoon/late evening (traffic and house heating emissions). An additional maximum (0.028–0.056 μm) observed in the early afternoon in summer was due to the intensive formation of new PM particles from gas precursors.
Highlights
In order to assess the influence of particulate matter (PM)on the air quality, ecosystems, human health, and climate changes, it is necessary to be aware of its chemical composition and size distribution [1,2,3]
The basic averaging time for results obtained with electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI) was minute. 1-minute concentrations were averaged to 1 hour (Table 1), whereas 24-hour concentrations were calculated on the basis of average 1-hour concentrations (Table 2)
The results showed that maxima of number size distribution fall into accumulation mode particles
Summary
On the air quality, ecosystems, human health, and climate changes, it is necessary to be aware of its chemical composition and size distribution [1,2,3]. Concentrations of nanoparticles can vary up to five or more orders of magnitude (from 102 to 107 cm−3 ) depending on environmental conditions and source strengths [15] For these reasons, continuous PM measurements performed at many various sites, in densely populated urban areas subject to high PM levels, seem extremely useful and practical. Studies conducted in recent years prove that PM concentrations in Poland are often high or extremely high [31,32,33] This fact, combined with the unclear character of number size distribution and the PM number concentration in the air, highlights the necessity to conduct continuous measurements in urban areas in Poland. The results discussed below come from the first long-term measurements (9 months) of particle number carried out in Poland
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