Hazardous Compounds in Urban Pm in the Central Part of Upper Silesia (Poland) in Winter

Abstract

Thirteen fractions of ambient dust were investigated in Zabrze, a typical urban area in the central part of Upper Silesia (Poland), during a heating season. Fifteen PAH and Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, As, Se, Cd, Pb contents of each fraction were determined. The dust was sampled with use of a cascade impactor and chemically analyzed with an energy dispersive X-ray fl uorescence spectrometer (PANalytical Epsilon 5) and a gas chromatograph with a fl ame ionisation detector (Perkin Elmer Clarus 500). The concentrations of PM 1 and the PM 1 -related PAH and elements were much higher than the ones of the coarse dust (PM 2.5-10 ) and the substances contained in it. The concentrations of total PAH and carcinogenic PAH were very high (the concentrations of PM 1 -, PM 2.5 -, and PM 10 -related BaP were 16.08, 19.19, 19.32 ng m -3 , respectively). The municipal emission, resulted mainly from hard coal combustion processes, appeared to be the main factor affecting the air quality in Zabrze in winter.

Seasonal variations in chromium concentration in urban atmospheric aerosol in the city of Radom

“…This is a very unfavourable situation for Radom inhabitants, as it increases health risk connected with inhalation hazard. The concentrations of chromium in PM10 and PM2.5 are comparable to those quoted by other authors for urban areas [19][20][21][22]24].…”

“…The determined PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations are typical of urban areas in various parts of the world [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Table 2 shows a comparison of the mean values obtained in this study with the data from other publications.…”

“…There has been an increasing interest in seasonal variations in the concentration of heavy metals in atmospheric aerosol and its probable effect on the estimation of inhalation hazard for city dwellers [11-18, 21, 24]. There is little interest in chromium in this respect, particularly in domestic literature [19][20][22][23].…”

PAH Concentrations Inside a Wood Processing Plant and the Indoor Effects of Outdoor Industrial Emissions

“…At gate G, beyond the sawmill installations, the PM 4 -and TSP-bound ∑PAH concentrations were 240 ng·m -3 and 387 ng·m -3 . They were low compared to the concentrations at other points, but still high compared to the concentrations in the region [17,18].…”

“…The high indoor PAH concentrations can be accounted for by PAH absorption and accumulation in sawdust, a very efficient sorbent of gaseous substances [28,29]. Elsewhere in Zabrze, in the open air, they are lower [18,25], probably because they naturally propagate in the atmosphere [20]. Accordingly, at the outdoor P4 (at the sawmill gate) they were the lowest among the PAH concentrations in the sawmill.…”