Search results for "air qualit"
showing 10 items of 196 documents
Dispersion models and air quality data for population exposure assessment to air pollution
2014
Evaluating the extent of exposure to chemicals in absence of continuous measurements of their concentration in air and direct measures of personal exposure is crucial for epidemiological studies. Dispersion models can be a useful tool for reproducing spatio-temporal distribution of contaminants emitted by a specific source. However, they cannot easily be applied to short-term epidemiological studies because they require precise information on daily emission scenarios for a long time, which are generally not available. The aim of this study was to better assess the exposure in the industrial area of Brindisi, which suffers from various critical epidemiological situations, by integrating air …
The Seasonality Impact of the BTEX Pollution on the Atmosphere of Arad City, Romania
2021
Benzene, toluene, and total BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) concentrations registered for one year (2016) have been determined every month for one high-density traffic area. The assessment was performed in Arad City, Romania, to evaluate these pollutants and their influence on the inhabitants’ health. The contaminants were sampled using a static sampling method and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Benzene was the most dominant among the BTEX compounds—the average concentrations ranged from 18.00 ± 1.32 µg m−3 in December to 2.47 ± 0.74 µg m−3 in August. The average toluene concentration over the year was 4.36 ± 2.42 µg m−3 (with a maximum of 9…
Recognition of Trace Element Contamination Using Ficus macrophylla Leaves in Urban Environment
2020
Urban areas are characterized by numerous pollutants emitted by anthropic sources both in the form of solid and gaseous particulates. Biomonitoring is an easy, economical, and accessible approach for the determination of atmospheric pollutants. In this study, we used the leaves of Ficus macrophylla Desf. ex Pers., collected in the city of Palermo (Italy), to determine major and trace elements. Geogenic elements exhibited the highest concentrations, making up 99% of the weight of the analyzed elements (Ca, K, Mg, P, S, Na, Fe, and Al)
Air Pollution Research Based on Spider Web and Parallel Continuous Particulate Monitoring—A Comparison Study Coupled with Identification of Sources
2021
Air pollution is monitored mainly in urban or industrial areas, even if it is known that in rural ones, low emission can significantly worsen air quality. Hence, cheap and easily accessible methods of monitoring are needed. Recently, spider webs biomonitoring is getting popular, however, there is no information about its comparison with active methods. In this study, PTEs accumulated on spider webs were compared with results from continuous particulate monitor (CPM). Generally, higher potentially toxic elements concentrations were noted in spider web, with exception in the case of Zn. Zn may be present rather in smaller fractions, hence it needs more time for accumulation on spider web whil…
Air Quality and Chronic Stress: A Representative Study of Air Pollution (PM2.5, PM10) in Germany.
2019
Objective With rising attention on climate change and the aftermath of burning fossil fuels, there is much concern regarding the effects of air pollution on physical and psychological health. However, the relationship between chronic stress and air pollution is relatively unexplored in humans. Methods By combining German representative data with national pollution data and using step-wise regression analyses, this study investigates how air pollution (particulate matter 2.5 and 10 [PM2.5 and PM10]) impacts ones' chronic stress levels (TICS). Results Results show PM2.5 fine-dust particles significantly affect chronic stress, while PM10 has no such effect. Air pollution (PM2.5), age, and inco…
Effects of air pollution on production of essential oil in Feijoa Sellowiana Berg. grown in the "Italian triangle of death"
2010
The composition of the essential oils of fruits from Feijoa sellowiana grown in the district of Acerra is compared with those collected from unpolluted sites. Essential oils from the fruits of F. sellowiana were analysed by GC/MS. Sixty compounds, representing 96.6% and 97.8% (unpolluted site and Acerra site, respectively) of the oils, were identified. The major constituents were β-caryophyllene (12.4% and 16.8%), ledene (9.6% and 11.1%), α-humulene (6.3% and 8.2%), β-elemene (4.9% and 5.3%) and δ-cadinene (4.7% and 5.2%) in the control site and Acerra site, respectively. The antioxidant components were increased in response to polluted condition. The acetonic extracts of F. sellowiana from…
Improving the prediction of air pollution peak episodes generated by urban transport networks
2016
Abstract This paper illustrates the early results of ongoing research developing novel methods to analyse and simulate the relationship between trasport-related air pollutant concentrations and easily accessible explanatory variables. The final scope is to integrate the new models in traditional traffic management support systems for a sustainable mobility of road vehicles in urban areas. This first stage concerns the relationship between the hourly mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and explanatory factors reflecting the NO2 mean level one hour back, along with traffic and weather conditions. Particular attention is given to the prediction of pollution peaks, defined as exceedanc…
CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND ODOUR POLLUTION IN ATMOSPHERE AT OIL AND GASOLINE HANDLING AND PROCESSING IMPACT ZONE
2019
Air quality pollution problem is still one of the crucial points for citizens in Europe for already receiving increasing attention, particularly because of the major European cities 10 and more years. Although the EU's long-term goal is to achieve levels of air quality that do not impact and risks to human health and the environment, many of member states still didn`t reach stated goals. Additionally, to gaseous pollutants, recently specific type of pollution, - odour, seems to become more important. Usually in order to determine pollution levels, national, municipal and private monitoring equipment is used. For this research municipal monitoring site in Riga (Latvia), at Milgravja Street 1…
A new opportunity for biomagnetic monitoring of particulate pollution in an urban environment using tree branches
2018
Abstract: Environmental magnetism, and the magnetic leaf signal in particular, is amply investigated and applied as proxy for atmospheric particulate matter pollution. In this study, we investigated the magnetic signal of annual segments of tree branches, and the composition of particles deposited hereon. Branches are, contrary to leaves of deciduous trees, available during leaf-off seasons and exposed to air pollution year-round. We examined the intra- and inter-tree variation in saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) of branch internodes of London plane (Platanus x aeerifolia Willd.) trees in an urban environment. The branch SIRM, normalized by surface area, ranged from 18 to…
Observations of molecular hydrogen mixing ratio and stable isotopic composition at the Cabauw tall tower in the Netherlands
2016
AbstractMeasurements of the stable isotopic composition (δD(H2) or δD) of atmospheric molecular hydrogen (H2) are a useful addition to mixing ratio (χ(H2)) measurements for understanding the atmospheric H2 cycle. δD datasets published so far consist mostly of observations at background locations. We complement these with observations from the Cabauw tall tower at the CESAR site, situated in a densely populated region of the Netherlands. Our measurements show a large anthropogenic influence on the local H2 cycle, with frequently occurring pollution events that are characterized by χ(H2) values that reach up to ≈1 ppm and low δD values. An isotopic source signature analysis yields an apparent…