The seasonal changes in ambient mass concentrations and chemical composition of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) were investigated in three locations in Poland. The analyses included PM 2.5 -bound hazardous benzo(a )pyrene (BaP), As, Ni, Cd, and Pb. The samples of PM 2.5 were collected daily in Katowice (southern Poland, urban background site), Gdańsk, and Diabla Góra (northern Poland, urban and regional background sites, respectively) during 1-year-long campaign in 2010. Based on monthly ambient concentrations of PM 2.5 -bound carbon (organic and elemental), water-soluble ions (Na + , NH 4 + , K + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Cl − , NO 3 − , SO 4 2− ), and elements As, Ni, Cd, Pb, Ti, Al, Fe, the chemical mass closure of PM 2.5 was checked for each of the four seasons of the year and for the heating and non-heating periods at each site. Also, the annual concentrations of PM 2.5 were determined and the annual PM 2.5 mass closure checked. At each measuring point, the PM 2.5 concentrations were high compared to its Polish yearly permissible value, 25 μg/m 3 , and its concentrations elsewhere in Europe. The highest annual PM 2.5 concentration, 43 μg/m 3 , occurred in Katowice; it was twice the annual PM 2.5 concentration in Gdańsk, and thrice the one in Diabla Góra. The high annual averages were due to very high monthly concentrations in the heating period, which were highest in the winter. PM 2.5 consisted mainly of carbonaceous matter (elemental carbon (EC) + organic matter (OM), the sum of elemental carbon, EC, and organic matter, OM; its annual mass contributions to PM 2.5 were 43, 31, and 33 % in Katowice, Gdansk, and Diabla Góra, respectively), secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), the Na_Cl group, and crustal matter (CM)-in the decreasing order of their yearly mass contributions to PM 2.5 . OM, EC, SIA, Na_Cl, and CM accounted for almost 81 % of the PM 2.5 mass in Katowice, 74 % in Gdańsk, and 90 % in Diabla Góra. The annual average toxic metal contribution to the PM 2.5 mass was not greater than 0.2 % at each site. In Katowice and Gdańsk, the yearly ambient BaP concentrations were high (15.4 and 3.2 ng/m 3 , respectively); in rural Diabla Góra, the concentrations of BaP were almost equal to 1 ng/m 3 , the Polish BaP annual limit. The great seasonal fluctuations of the shares of the component groups in PM 2.5 and of the concentrations of PM 2.5 and its components are due to the seasonal fluctuations of the emissions of PM and its precursors from hard and brown coal combustion for energy production, growing in a heating season, reaching maximum in winter, and decreasing in a nonheating period. In Gdańsk, northern Poland, especially in the spring and autumn, sea spray might have affected the chemical composition of PM 2.5 . The greatest hazard from PM 2.5 occurs in Katowice, southern Poland, in winter, when very high concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 2.5 -related carbonaceous matter, including BaP, are maintained by poor natural ventilation in cities, weather conditions, and the highest level of industrialization in...

The health impacts of suspended particulate matter (SPM) are significantly associated with size—the smaller the aerosol particles, the stronger the biological effect. Quantitative evaluation of fine and ultrafine particles (FP and UFP) is, therefore, an integral part of ongoing epidemiological studies. The mass concentrations of SPM fractions (especially PM2.5, PM1.0, PM0.25) were measured in an industrial area using cascade personal samplers and a gravimetric method, and their mass ratio was determined. The results of PM2.5, PM1.0 were also compared with the reference measurement at stationary stations. The mean ratios PM2.5/SPM, PM1.0/SPM, and PM1.0/PM2.5 were 0.76, 0.65, and 0.86, respectively. Surprisingly, a mass dominance of UFP with an aerodynamic diameter <0.25 μm (PM0.25) was found with mean ratios of 0.43, 0.57, 0.67 in SPM, PM2.5 and PM1.0. The method used showed satisfactory agreement in comparison with reference measurements. The respirable fraction may consist predominantly of UFP. Despite the measures currently being taken to improve air quality, the most biologically efficient UFP can escape and remain in the air. UFP are currently determined primarily as particle number as opposed to the mass concentration used for conventional fractions. This complicates their mutual comparison and determination of individual fraction ratios.

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of meteorological factors on the concentration of beryllium 7Be and lead 210Pb in the surface layer air on background their variability due to environmental conditions. Data analysis was carried out for 13 Polish stations for the period 2005-2009. The measurement cosmogenic and terrestrial radioactivity were collected on network station type ASS-500. The analysis includes the following meteorological elements from NWS stations: temperature, precipitation, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, humidity, solar radiation and in addition number of sunspots (SSN). It was considered that these meteorological elements mainly responsible for the transport and removal processes of 7Be and 210Pb from the atmosphere. The study method was used correlation analysis. Because of the relatively small area of Poland, it is hard to prove the dependence of 7Be activity concentration variability on the influence of such factors as geographical location or SSN. However, the activity concentration of 7Be and 210Pb are dependent on meteorological conditions. The inverse interaction of atmosphere stability conditions on 7Be and 210Pb allows one to use the 7Be/210Pb ratio as an indicator of vertical transport in the atmosphere.