Is There Something in the Air? Sources, Concentrations and Ionic Composition of Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in an Industrial Coastal City in Southern Brazil

Assessing PM 2.5 in a Protected Ecosystem in the South Atlantic under Massive Port Activities - Evidence of High Concentrations and Multiple Sources

“…Secondary sulphates (34.6%): This pro le is primarily attributed to the presence of SO 2and NH ions and BC, which is consistent with ndings from previous studies conducted in Barcelona port, Spain (Pérez et al, 2016) and Southeast Asia (Dahari et al, 2021). This factor is associated with the formation of secondary sulphates (Gutierrez et al, 2020;Reche et al, 2012). The BC in this factor corroborates the fossil fuel burning contribution from trucks and ships.…”

“…The concentration of PM 2.5 revealed a positive Spearman nonparametric correlation with temperature (0.183, p = 0.001) as well as a negative correlation with relative humidity (-0.236, p ≤.001), probably due to the contribution of high temperatures to reduce humidity and consequently to concentrate suspended particles in the air (Table S1). A very similar scenario was described for Rio Grande, South Brazil, which hosts a large port city with usually high humidity levels due to frequent cold fronts (Gutierrez et al, 2020), as the optimal humidity for a rapid increase in PM 2.5 is between 45 and 84% (Zhang et al, 2017). Since the average humidity in Paranaguá is close to the upper boundary of this range (80%), even small decreases in relative humidity could lead to an increase in PM 2.5 concentrations.…”

Weekend effect on air pollutant levels in southernmost cities of Brazil with different economic activities

“…These results are in agreement with what is observed in the literature, since the activity of mining and power generation with coal is recognized by the emission of high levels of SO 2 and nitrogen oxides (Li et al, 2021 ), while the presence of large industrial complexes is directly related to high levels of PM 2.5 in local air (Hsu et al, 2017 ; Jeon et al, 2010 ). In fact, the study by Gutierrez et al ( 2020 ) carried out in the city of Rio Grande highlighted the presence of high levels of PM 2.5 in the air in this region, with 50% of the samples collected exceeding quality criteria established by the WHO ( 2006 ) and CONAMA ( 2018 ). These data reinforce the need and importance of studying smaller and non-metropolitan regions, taking into consideration the region’s economic activity.…”

Weekend effect of air pollutants in small and medium-sized cities: The role of policies stringency to COVID-19 containment

“…In addition, in a recent study by the Brazilian Institute of Energy and Environment (( IEMA, from Portuguese, Instituto de Energia e Meio Ambiente 2022 )), it was pointed out that the coal-fired power plant present in this region is the one that emits the most pollutants in Brazil. The levels observed in Rio Grande can be explained by its industrial complex of recognized national importance, which is composed of industries with numerous different activities, and which are usually directly related to high levels of emissions of compounds that compose the particulate matter of the region ( Gutierrez et al, 2020 ; Tavella et al, 2022c ).…”