Anna Zwoździak

PM2.5 in the central part of Upper Silesia, Poland: concentrations, elemental composition, and mobility of components

The paper discusses ambient concentrations of PM2.5 (ambient fine particles) and of 29 PM2.5-related elements in Zabrze and Katowice, Poland, in 2007. The elemental composition of PM2.5 was determined using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The mobility (cumulative percentage of the water-soluble and exchangeable fractions of an element in its total concentration) of 18 PM2.5-related elements in Zabrze and Katowice was computed by using sequential extraction and EDXRF combined into a simple method. The samples were extracted twice: in deionized water and in ammonium acetate. In general, the mobility and the concentrations of the majority of the elements were the same in both cities. S, Cl, K, Ca, Zn, Br, Ba, and Pb in both cities, Ti and Se in Katowice, and Sr in Zabrze had the mobility greater than 70%. Mobility of typical crustal elements, Al, Si, and Ti, because of high proportion of their exchangeable fractions in PM, was from 40 to 66%. Mobility of Fe and Cu was lower than 30%. Probable sources of PM2.5 were determined by applying principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis and computing enrichment factors. Great part of PM2.5 (78% in Katowice and 36% in Zabrze) originated from combustion of fuels in domestic furnaces (fossil fuels, biomass and wastes, etc.) and liquid fuels in car engines. Other identified sources were: power plants, soil, and roads in Zabrze and in Katowice an industrial source, probably a non-ferrous smelter or/and a steelwork, and power plants.

The contribution of outdoor particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) to school indoor environment

The contributions of outdoor and indoor sources to the indoor concentrations of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10) were investigated in a secondary school in Wroclaw, Poland. PM measurements were performed one week per month from December 2009 to October 2010. The sizes of the aerosols generated form indoor sources were in the range of 1–2.5 µm in winter and 2.5–10 µm in summer. It was found that the indoor PM1 concentrations in the school were mostly due to infiltration, with an infiltration factor of 0.65 in winter and 0.68 in summer. These findings, complemented with single particle analyses (using electron probe X-ray microanalysis) revealed that the finest particles, mostly infiltrated from outdoor air, were dominated by organic carbon, sulphates and that organic carbon particles were associated with fly ash or soil dust. Organic carbon was also associated with larger particles of fly ash or soil dust. As part of mineral dust calcium carbonate, salt particles and aluminosilicates were identified. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the health risks posed to school children associated with the high exposure to indoor PM containing potentially toxic materials in this and probably other schools.

Atmospheric sulphate formation in the vicinity of a copper smelter

Abstract Atmospheric aerosol samples have been collected since March 1984 at three sites located along the pathway of normal plume flow, at a distance of 2.5–8.0 km from a copper smelter. Data collected at each station included SO 2 and NO x concentrations, as well as concentrations of total particulate matter. Particulate samples were analyzed for sulphate and other water-soluble compounds, acidity and elemental concentrations. Results were subjected to factor and cluster analysis. SO 2 transformation was estimated by comparing the ratios of particulate sulphur to total sulphur at sampling sites downwind of the source. The results suggest that the liquid-phase oxidation of SO 2 is the primary pathway for sulphate formation near the copper smelter. It is proposed that a ‘burst’ of SO 2− 4 production takes place relatively soon after emission of the SO 2 into the humid environment. Many metal ions co-variate with sulphates.

Meteorological Aspect of Chemical Composition of Precipitation/Deposition - Long Range Pollution Transport in a Mountain Region

The acidification of forest ecosystems in the southwestern Poland (Sudety Mountains) has been a topic of intensive research and modeling efforts in recent years. It is generally believed that this problem is a consequence of transport and deposition of acidic atmospheric pollutants, both gases and particles. In the period from 1988 to 1992 sampling was underway at five locations of the mountain legion (810 ÷ 1490 m a.s.l.)1,2. The main objective of the network was to measure routinely the daily concentration: SO2, NH 4 + , NO2, \(SO_{4 acr}^ =\), total suspended particles, sulphates in air and the following species: pH value, SO 4 = , C1-, N(NO 3 - ), N(NH 4 + ), K+, Na+, Ca++, Mg++ in precipitation/deposition (rain, snow, rime). Moreover, meteorological parameters were registered: windspeed (V) and direction, humidity (H), temperature (T), the circulation type, the amount of precipitation and trajectory wind roses. Air acidic species episodes and precipitation/deposition concentrations of ionic species are found to be strongly dependent upon meteorological circumstances. On a basis of freq-uency histogram of daily average values (concentration species, meteorological parameters), the range of values wem determined for which frequency of occurence was 55 ÷ 80%.

Penetration of atmospheric sulphates through cellulose filters

Atmospheric sampling was performed to evaluate the reliability of the filter technique in collecting ambient sulphate aerosol. Results showed that a number of compounds were not retained by a Whatman 41 cellulose filter. The portion of sulphate particles which had passed through the filter at the flow rate 2.4 m3 per 24 h accounted for 20–35% and 50% of the total sulphate concentration in rural and urban atmospheres, respectively.