PM10 In Urban Areas Research Articles

Trace Metals in PM10 and Associated Health Risk in Two Urban Sites Located in Campeche

This study reports the trace metal concentrations in PM10 collected in two urban sites of Campeche, Mexico (the INAH site, located in the downtown, and the TNL site, located in the Tecnologico Nacional de Mexico campus Lerma). Trace metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, with Fe and Mn being the most dominant species. Cd and Co showed high values of enrichment factors, indicating that they were highly enriched by anthropogenic sources. A health risk assessment was carried out according to the IRIS-EPA methodology considering both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects and different age and gender population groups. The TNL site showed cancer risk coefficients that exceed the maximum limits established by the EPA and the WHO (1 × 10−6 and 1 × 10−5, respectively), being higher for Cd and Co. The non-carcinogenic risk exceeded the limits recommended by the EPA, being higher in the INAH site for cobalt (HQ = 28.92). There is a latent risk that the exposed population may develop cardiovascular and respiratory diseases due to inhalation of the metals measured in PM10. It is necessary to carry out more continuous monitoring campaigns of trace metals linked to PM10 in this area to enable a better understanding of the effects of these contaminants on the health of the exposed population. The results of the present work constitute the first efforts to evaluate the trace metals concentrations in PM10 in urban areas of the city of Campeche, Campeche and can be used to develop programs focused on improving air quality.

Monitoring the dispersed composition of dust particles on the leaf blades of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris), small-leaved elm (Ulmus parvifolia), common apricot (Prunus armenica) in urban agglomeration

The article presents the study results of dusty particles on the leaves of tree species forms in the residential area of the Sredneahtubinsky district of the Volgograd region. The aim of the study was to monitor the dispersed composition of dust particles on various types of urban vegetation. Leaves of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris), small-leaved elm (Ulmus parvifolia), common apricot (Prunus armenica) as mass plant species growing in the residential area of the Sredneahtubinsky district of the Volgograd region were chosen as objects of study. The novelty of the work is the study dispersed composition of dust particles on the leaves of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris), small-leaved elm (Ulmus parvifolia), common apricot (Prunus armenica) from the standpoint of random functions expressed by integral distribution curves of particle mass over their equivalent diameters. The measurement of dust particles, dust processing, and the study of dust dispersed composition of was carried out in accordance with GOST R 56929-2016 using the SPOTEXPLORER computer program. As a result of the studies, it was found that the surface of the laminate leaf of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and elm have the best adsorption ability small-leaved (Ulmus parvifolia). The study's results are of practical importance - they provide information on the urban plants ability of leaves surface to retain fine-dispersed dust, offer a specific range of plant species for urban green areas, which can use the regional public services greening of urban areas in order to reduce PM2.5 emissions of PM10 in urban areas.

Statistical evidence on the impact of agricultural straw burning on urban air quality in China

Agricultural straw burning is prevalent globally with a long history, but evidence on its pollution and health impact is limited in many countries. This study quantifies the effect of agricultural straw burning on urban air quality in China. Fixed-effects (FE) panel regression models are employed to link straw burning points detected by high-resolution satellites to air quality monitored at 1650 ground-level stations from 2013 to 2015. The method can explain over 80% of the monthly variation in urban air quality during straw burning seasons. The results show that straw burning primarily affects particulate matter, and has negligible effects on other pollutants. Specifically, ten additional burning points in a month in the rural farmland of a city can lead to a 5.19 ± 2.54 µg/m3 (3.67%±1.76%) increase in urban PM10 concentration. The effect is statistically significant for monthly burnings over 20 points. Upwind burnings’ effect is 2-4 times larger than that of non-upwind burnings. The contribution from straw burning remains significant for daily and annual PM10 in urban areas. These estimates imply that straw burning should be properly regulated to improve air quality and protect public health in China, and the method and findings have broad implications for other agrarian regions with similar issues.

Characterization and morphological analysis of individual aerosol of PM10 in urban area of Lucknow, India

Airborne particulate matters were collected during the period of October 2015 to September 2016 in Lucknow at different sampling sites. The annual mean concentration of particulate matter was found to be relatively higher than the limits prescribed by National ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and World Health Organization (WHO). Particulate matters were studied for morphological analysis, elemental composition and functional group variability with the help of Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) followed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Morphological characteristics viz. particle count, aspect ratio, circulatory, roundness, equivalent spherical diameter (ESD) and surface area revealed that the particles were perfectly spherical to irregular in shape. Based on the morphology and elemental composition, four clusters of a particulates namely organic particle with inorganic inclusion, soot, tar balls and aluminosilicates were found. FTIR spectra revealed the presence of sulfate, bisulfate, particulate water, silicate, ammonium, aliphatic carbon, aliphatic alcohol, carbonyl and organic nitrates.

Carbonaceous species in PM2.5 and PM10 in urban area of Zhengzhou in China: Seasonal variations and source apportionment

PM2.5 and PM10 samples were simultaneously collected in an urban site in Zhengzhou, China from October 2014 to July 2015 representing the four seasons. Organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and non-polar organic compounds including n-alkanes (C8–C40) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were quantified. The characteristics of their concentrations, seasonal variations, and sources of n-alkanes and PAHs were investigated. Diagnostic ratios and positive matrix factorization (PMF) were used to characterize carbonaceous species, identify their possible sources, and apportion the contributions from each possible source. The concentrations of the components exhibited distinct seasonal variation, that is, the concentrations are high in winter and low in summer. This finding could be associated with increase in air pollutant emissions during heating season and stable weather condition. The estimated total carbonaceous aerosol accounts for 32% of PM2.5 and 30% of PM10. Hence, carbonaceous compounds were the major components of particulate matter in the study area. Moreover, OC, EC, PAHs, and n-alkanes preferentially accumulated into fine particles. The carbonaceous components exhibited high correlation in PM2.5 and PM10, thereby indicating that their sources were similar. The PMF results revealed that the main sources of PAHs were coal combustion (40%) and motor vehicles (29%); n-alkanes were mainly from burning of fossil fuel (48%). These sources were consistent with the diagnostic ratios obtained. This study provides guidance for improving air quality and reducing human exposure to toxic air pollutants.

Statistical Modeling Approaches for PM10 Prediction in Urban Areas; A Review of 21st-Century Studies

PM10 prediction has attracted special legislative and scientific attention due to its harmful effects on human health. Statistical techniques have the potential for high-accuracy PM10 prediction and accordingly, previous studies on statistical methods for temporal, spatial and spatio-temporal prediction of PM10 are reviewed and discussed in this paper. A review of previous studies demonstrates that Support Vector Machines, Artificial Neural Networks and hybrid techniques show promise for suitable temporal PM10 prediction. A review of the spatial predictions of PM10 shows that the LUR (Land Use Regression) approach has been successfully utilized for spatial prediction of PM10 in urban areas. Of the six introduced approaches for spatio-temporal prediction of PM10, only one approach is suitable for high-resolved prediction (Spatial resolution < 100 m; Temporal resolution ≤ 24 h). In this approach, based upon the LUR modeling method, short-term dynamic input variables are employed as explanatory variables alongside typical non-dynamic input variables in a non-linear modeling procedure.

Outdoor PM₁₀ source apportionment in metropolitan cities--a case study.

This study was carried out to specify contribution of different sources in PM10 emission in Tehran City using chemical mass balance method. This is the first time that this method is used in Iran. To this end, the metallic elements including V, Ni, As, Pb, Cd, Hg, Mn, Al, Ca, K, Na, Fe, Zn, Sc, and S were sampled on the filters of high-volume sampler installed at four stations in Tehran. Afterward, highly sensitive inductively coupled plasma (ICP-M90; model aurora-Elit) was used to determine concentration of the elements precipitated on the filters. The obtained results were then compared with standard values. According to the results, the concentration of Cd (16.8 ng/m(3)) was higher than the standard level of 5 ng/m(3) at District 16 on November 14th 2012 which is almost three times the permissible limit. None of the elements Pb, Mn, V, and Hg exceeded the permissible limits except for Ni at District 16. Subsequently, the enrichment factor of the elements was calculated to indicate that elements of anthropogenic origins (Zn, S, Ni, and Hg) are highly enriched with respect to crustal composition (Na, Fe, and Ca). Exceedance factor were calculated for elements of each site to show that all study sites were in low-pollution category. Afterward, the contribution of different pollution sources of road dust, vehicles, and industries in emission of outdoor PM10 was investigated through chemical mass balance (CMB) method. According to which, the highest contribution comes from road dust with a share of 95.4 % of the total outdoor PM10 emission in Tehran mainly originated from the wear and friction of car tires with asphalt pavement. High calcium concentration in all districts of the city confirms the claim. Furthermore, transportation, with a significant difference, has a contribution of 4.05 % of total outdoor PM10 released while industries share very little about 0.4 %. In overall, the quality of road pavement could be a determining factor in releasing considerable amount of outdoor PM10 in urban areas.

Source apportionment of ambient PM10 in urban areas of Wuxi, China

A total of 168 PM10 samples were collected during the year of 2005 at eight sites in the city of Wuxi in China. Fifteen chemical elements, three water-soluble ions, total carbon and organic carbon were analyzed. Six source categories were identified and their contributions to ambient PM10 in Wuxi were estimated using a nested chemical mass balance method that reduces the effects of colinearity on the chemical mass balance model. In addition, the concentrations of secondary aerosols, such as secondary organic carbon, sulfate and nitrate, were quantified. The spatially averaged PM10 was high in the spring and winter (123 μg·m−3 and low in the summer-fall (90 μg·m−3). According to the result of source apportionment, resuspended dust was the largest contributor to ambient PM10, accounting for more than 50% of the PM10 mass. Coal combustion (14.6%) and vehicle exhaust (9.4%) were also significant source categories of ambient PM10. Construction and cement dust, sulfates, secondary organic carbon, and nitrates made contributions ranging between 4.1% and 4.9%. Other source categories such as steel manufacturing dust and soil dust made low contributions to ambient PM10.

Air pollution and mortality in New Zealand: cohort study

BackgroundFew cohort studies of the health effects of urban air pollution have been published. There is evidence, most consistently in studies with individual measurement of social factors, that more deprived...

Saharan Dust Transport and Daily Mortality

ISEE-0292 Background and Objective: A recent study in Barcelona evaluated the effects of Saharan dust on mortality. In this study, the authors showed that increases of both fine and coarse particles were associated with greater effects on mortality in Saharan dust days than in non Saharan dust ones. We study this relationship in Emilia-Romagna, a region in the north-east of Italy. In this region the meteorological and air quality station of Mt. Cimone (2165 a.s.l.) is located, one of the first high mountains that is passed by the Saharan air masses and where measurements of their chemical composition has been regularly carried out since 2002. Methods: The identification of Saharan dust episodes was done analysing the hourly number concentration of coarse particles at Mt. Cimone. Additional information on dust episodes was obtained from the analysis of background trajectories and satellite images. Exposure of study population to particulate matter was defined through the monitored level of PM10 in urban areas. We studied all subjects at least 75 years of age who died of natural causes in the main cities of the region from 2002 to 2006. The association of daily concentrations of PM10 with daily mortality was investigated using a case-crossover design. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate percent increase in the risk of dying for an increase of 10 μg/m3 in PM10 (lag 1). Chemical composition of particles was also analyzed. Results: Natural mortality risk increased by 3.8% (95% Confidence Intervals, CI, 0.2-7.5) during non Saharan dust days and by 5.7% (CI, −3.0-15.2%) during Saharan dust days in summer period. Other analyses have been done by age, sex and cause of death. Conclusion: The apparent increase in mortality associated with Saharan dust raises concern over possible underestimation of toxicity from coarse particles when they come from desert sources.

Estimation of Enhancing Improvement for Ambient Air-Quality during Street Flushing and Sweeping

This investigation addressed the source apportionment of aerosol particles using both the receptor and dispersion models. Factor analysis and chemical mass balance (CMB) models were two receptor modeling techniques employed to categorize the possible sources in Kaohsiung district. The ISCST3 dispersion model was also used to evaluate improvements in ambient-air quality. Factor analysis revealed that road sweeping resulted in a variation of approximately 10% in the compositions of TSP and PM10. The mass fractions of TSP explained by the CMB model were 60-70% before flushing, 35-37% after flushing, 71-83% before sweeping, and 80-120% after sweeping. The CMB method identified six possible sources of TSP as: combustion sources (53.2 ± 11.1%), street dust (12.4 ± 9.3%), nitrate (4.9 ± 1.2%), sulfate (2.9 ± 0.8%), sea salt (1.0 ± 0.3%), and gasoline cars (0.4 ± 0.6%). The simulation results of ISCST3 model showed that road flushing improved annual PM10 from 1.5-2.1% at the 11 monitoring stations operated around Kaohsiung City. After road flushing, the ratios and concentrations of TSP for street dust and combustion sources were reduced. For TSP, road sweeping increased the concentrations of street dust within 30 m downwind of the sampling sites (both sites located downwind at 5 and 30 meters); but reduced it at 200 m downwind. Factor analysis showed rates of street dust for TSP were lower than 28% before street sweeping; lower than 17% after street sweeping. The CMB model revealed that contributed rates of street dust for TSP were lower than 22% before street sweeping, and lower than 34% after street sweeping. The ISCST3 model showed air quality improvements for PM10 in urban areas were greater than in industrial areas. Moreover, the maximum improvement in the annual mean PM10 was around 2 μg/m3.

Air pollutants contribution and control strategies of energy-use related sources in Beijing

Based on the statistical analysis of emission inventory and ISCST3 model simulation, the emission and ambient concentration contributions of energy-use related sources to the major pollutants of SO 2 , NO x and PM10 in urban areas of Beijing were analyzed. The SO2 emission contributions of coal burning in power plants, industrial and heating sectors were 49%, 26% and 24% respectively. The vehicle exhaust contributed 74% of the NO x concentration. As to PM 10 , the industrial sector was the largest emission (28%) and concentration (21%) contributor despite of the fugitive sources. The source emission contributions of VOC and NH 3 , which greatly influence the generation of secondary pollutants, were discussed as well. This paper also analyzed the control strategies of energy consumption and vehicle sources, based on which the control scenario in 2008 was established and the change of emission and concentration contribution were estimated. The results show that the cleaner energy use, industrial structure improvement, transportation mode modification and single vehicle emission control will greatly improve air quality. The industrial sector will change to the largest contributor of SO 2 and as to NO x , vehicle emission control is still important.

The seasonal variation of urban air quality in northern European conditions

Meteorological conditions in northern Europe vary widely with the seasons. Consequently, the seasonal variation of urban air pollution is, to a large extent, determined by those meteorological variables which are important for air quality. We present first results on the yearly variation of atmospheric stability (and the occurrence of inversion layers), wind velocity, ambient temperature, solar radiation, precipitation and snow cover. The seasonal variations of the guideline exceedences for CO, NO2, SO2, TSP and PM10 in urban areas in Finland are then interpreted in the light of the meteorological variation.