A study of precipitation chemistry was conducted from 2006 January to 2016 November in the Ciuc and Giurgeu basin, Eastern Carpathians, Romania. The results show that the natural precipitation in these areas is alkaline, with a volume weighted mean (VWM) of 6.49 and 6.88 in Ciuc and Giurgeu basin, respectively. NH4+ is the most potential species to completely neutralize the rainwater over the Miercurea Ciuc (Ciuc basin) and Toplita (Giurgeu basin) area. However, in the case of Miercurea Ciuc, Ca2+ is also a potential neutralizer. Annual mean percentage concentration of NH4+ within the total principal cations is also proof that ammonium dominates the rainwater chemistry in the atmosphere of the studied basins. A comparison between the annual mean deposition fluxes showed that in the Giurgeu basin concentrations of NH4+ are higher than in the Ciuc basin. Calculations of the neutralization factors (NFs) show that at both sampling sites NH4+ contributed the most to the neutralization process. Ammonium availability index (AAI) has a value of 156.44% and 179.11% for Miercurea Ciuc and Toplia, respectively, indicating excess ammonium over the neutralization value. Fractional acidity (FA) was calculated, indicating that in Miercurea Ciuc 98.74% and in Toplita 99.28% of the rainwater acidity was neutralized. Calculation of the original and measured acidity also showed the neutralization capability of NH4+. Contributions of the marine and non-marine salts and enrichment factors were estimated, helping to identify the possible sources of the major ions in the atmosphere.

This study presents the PM10 concentration, respiratory and cardiovascular disease hospital admissions evolution in the Ciuc basin for a period of 9 years (2008–2016), taking into consideration different meteorological conditions: boundary layer, lifting condensation level, temperature-humidity index, and wind chill equivalent chart index. The PM10 and hospital admissions evolution showed a very fluctuated hourly, weekly, monthly, yearly tendency. The PM10 concentration in winter (34.72 μg/m3) was 82% higher than the multiannual average (19.00 μg/m3), and almost three times higher than in summer (11.71 μg/m3). During the winter, PM10 concentration increased by an average of 9.36 μg/m3 due to the increased household heating. Climatological parameters have a demonstrable effect on the PM10 concentration variation. Children, the elderly and men are more sensitive to air pollution, the calculated relative risk for men was (RR = 1.45), and for women (RR = 1.37), respectively. A moderate correlation (0.51) was found between PM10 and pneumonia (P), while a relatively weak correlation (0.39) was demonstrated in the case of PM10 and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Furthermore, except thermal humidity index (THI), strong negative correlations were observed between the multiannual monthly mean PM10 and the meteorological data. The PM10 followed a moderate negative correlation with the boundary layer (−0.61). In the case of URTI and P, the highest number of hospital admissions occurred with a 5 to 7-day lag, while the 10 μg/m3 PM10 increase resulted in a 2.04% and 8.28% morbidity increase. For lung cancer (LC) and cardiovascular diseases (AMI, IHD, CCP), a maximum delay of 5-6 months was found. Three-month delay and an average growth of 1.51% was observed in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Overall, these findings revealed that PM10 was and it is responsible for one-third of the diseases.

This paper presents the evolution of ozone concentration for the 2007-2016 decade and a comparison with key values related to human and vegetation health. As temperature is one of the main factors influencing ozone concentration in this area, the most significant changes of air temperature and extreme temperature indices for the 2007 - 2016 decade were evaluated, in retrospect to temperature measurements for the 1961-1990 reference period. The relationship between temperature and ozone concentration was also overviewed, by means of climate penalty factor. The influence of NOx concentration on ozone concentration was studied in order to compare the impact of climate changes with the impact of changes determined by anthropogenic emission.

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