Abstract
Airports are identified hotspots for air pollution, notably for fine particles (PM2.5) that are pivotal in aerosol-cloud interaction processes of climate change and human health. We herein studied the field observation and statistical analysis of 10 years data of PM2.5 and selected emitted co-pollutants (CO, NOx, and O3), in the vicinity of three major Canadian airports, with moderate to cold climates. The decadal data analysis indicated that in colder climate airports, pollutants like PM2.5 and CO accumulate disproportionally to their emissions, in fall and winter, in comparison to airports in milder climates. Decadal daily averages and standard errors of PM2.5 concentrations were Vancouver: 5.31 ± 0.017, Toronto: 6.71 ± 0.199, and Montreal: 7.52 ± 0.023 μg/m3. The smallest and the coldest airport with least flights/passengers had the highest PM2.5 concentration. QQQ-ICP-MS/MS and HR-S/TEM analysis of snow near Montreal airport indicated a wide range of emerging contaminants (Cd, Mo, Co, As, Ni, Cr, and Pb) ranging from 0.90 to 622 μg/L, which were also observed in the atmosphere, hinting air-snow interactions. The concentration of selected emerging contaminants in snow near the Montreal airport were at pare with highly polluted snow samples like Alberta’s oil sands regions. The mean freezing temperature of snow close to the airport was -6.19 ± 0.06 °C, statistically higher than in downtown Montreal (-13.35 ± 0.06 °C) hinting to the importance of anthropogenic particles on snow microphysics. During the lockdown a pronounced decrease in the concentrations of PM 2.5 in residential areas close to airports was observed, conforming with the recommended workplace health thresh-holds (~ 2 × 104 cm-3), while before the lockdown condensed nano-sized particles were above the health limit. Targeted reduction of PM2.5 emission is recommended for cold-climate regions.
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