Abstract: In this study, we show the trends in the concentration Of SO2 and particulate matter (PM) in two health resorts, located in the tri-border region of Poland, Germany and Czech Republic. We analyze the annual time series and the seasonal variability of PM concentration for the months of July and February over the period of 1996-2007. Additionally, in July 2006, we measured the mean 24-hour concentration of PM and the content of heavy metals (by EDXRF analysis). We prove that nowadays air pollution in this region has diminished to a large extent as compared to the 90s of the last century. In Cieplice, the local influence is still evident; while Czerniawa is exposed to a periodical advection of polluted air from regional sources.

Abstract: Air pollution caused by the lime production industry has become a serious problem with potential effects to human health, especially in developing countries. Colombo is a city included in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba (capital of Parana State) in South Brazil. In Colombo city, a correlation has been shown between the lime production and the number of persons who need respiratory treatment in a local hospital, indicating that the lime industry can cause deleterious health effects in the exposed workers and population. This research was conducted to deal firstly with the characterization of the size distribution and chemical compositions of particles emitted from lime manufacturing and subsequently to assess the deposition rate of inhaled dolomitic lime aerosol particles in the human respiratory tract. The elemental chemical composition and particle size of individual atmospheric particles was quantitatively elucidated, including low-Z components like C, N and 0, as well as higher-Z elements, using automated electron probe microanalysis. Information concerning the bulk composition is provided by energy-dispersive X-ray detection. The majority of the respirable particulate matter identified was composed of aluminosilicates, Ca-Mg oxides, carbon-rich particles, mixtures of organic particles and Ca-Mg carbonates, soot and biogenic particles. In view of the chemical composition and size distribution of the aerosol particles, local deposition efficiencies in the human respiratory system were calculated, revealing the deposition of CaO center dot MgO at extrathoracic, tracheobronchial and pulmonary levels. The results of this study offer evidence to the threat of the fine and coarse particles emitted from dolomite lime manufacturing, allowing policy-makers to better focus their mitigation strategies in an effective way, as well as to the dolomite producers for the purpose of designing and/or implementing improved emission controls.

Abstract: Mass, major ionic components (MICs) of PM2.5, and related gaseous pollutants (SO2, NOx, NH3, HNO2, and HNO3) were monitored over six locations of different anthropogenic influence (industrial, urban, suburban, and rural) in Belgium. SO42-, NO3-, NH4+, and Na+ were the primary ions of PM2.5 with averages diurnal concentrations ranging from 0.44.5, 0.37.6, 0.94.9, and 0.41.2 µg m-3, respectively. MICs formed 39% of PM2.5 on an average, but it could reach up to 8098%. The SO2, NO, NO2, HNO2, and HNO3 levels showed high seasonal and site-specific fluctuations. The NH3 levels were similar over all the sites (26 µg m-3), indicating its relation to the evenly distributed animal husbandry activities. The sulfur and nitrogen oxidation ratios for PM2.5 point towards a low-to-moderate formation of secondary sulfate and nitrate aerosols over five cities/towns, but their fairly intensive formation over the rural Wingene. Cluster analysis revealed the association of three groups of compounds in PM2.5: (i) NH4NO3, KNO3; (ii) Na2SO4; and (iii) MgCl2, CaCl2, MgF2, CaF2, corresponding to anthropogenic, sea-salt, and mixed (sea-salt + anthropogenic) aerosols, respectively. The neutralization and cation-to-anion ratios indicate that MICs of PM2.5 appeared mostly as (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3 salts. Sea-salt input was maximal during winter reaching up to 12% of PM2.5. The overall average Cl-loss for sea-salt particles of PM2.5 at the six sites varied between 69 and 96% with an average of 87%. Principal component analysis revealed vehicular emission, coal/wood burning and animal farming as the dominating sources for the ionic components of PM2.5.

Abstract: Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were used to evaluate the air quality before and after the infrastructural change of an important traffic artery in Mortsel, Antwerp (Belgium). During the reconstruction works two pairs of traffic lanes were reduced to one in each direction. Two sampling campaigns were conducted: the first one before the works in 2003 and the second one in 2005, after the road works were finished. Sampling was performed on a weekly base with the use of passive diffusion tubes on the streets, and also indoors in nearby houses. The samples were analyzed by ion chromatography, from which data the NO2 concentrations in air could be calculated. These results were compared with NO2 values from the air monitoring station 42R801 of the Flemish Environment Agency in Borgerhout, Antwerp. On the base of different NO2 concentrations, correlated well with the traffic density, sampling locations were classified into three groups as follows: 1) heavily polluted (heavy traffic); 2) moderately polluted (medium traffic); or 3) less polluted (low traffic density). Sampling sites located further from the road works, enclosed to the group less polluted, showedthe lowestNO2 concentrations. The highestNO2 levelwas found for the locations close to reconstructionworks, which belonged to the group heavily polluted. The contribution of NO2 was at the samelevel before and after the roadworks. During the first campaign it ranged from30±7 µg/m3 to 71±11 µg/m3 and during the second sampling itwas between 36±17 µg/m3 and 73±17 µg/m3. These modernizationworks had no impact on preventing the traffic-related pollutant as NO2 and as a consequence no significant effect on the air quality in the studied region. It has been proven that the impact of traffic on the air quality is unmistakably high and simply reduction of the number of the traffic lanes, intended to discourage the traffic flow, had apparently no environmentally advantageous effect

Abstract: Soil samples from an abandoned uranium mine have been investigated in order to determine the molecular phases of uranium compounds. The experiments were carried out with soil particulate matter, collected randomly from the area of the formerly exploited ore. To select the particles rich with uranium, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray attachment (SEM/EDX) was applied first. Afterwards, the particles were relocated and measured by l-Raman spectrometry (MRS). Residues of the main deposit, uraninite UO2, were detected, along with its alteration products. In terms of Raman scattering properties, uranium oxides are quite sensitive to the laser beam wavelength, which results in very specific features of their Raman spectra. In this paper the Raman spectra of uranium oxides of different origin and oxidation states, measured with 514 and 785 nm lasers, are also presented

Abstract: Background: It has been hypothesized that ambient particulate air pollution is able to modify the autonomic nervous control of the heart, measured as heart rate variability (HRV) . Previously we reported heterogeneous associations between particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and HRV across three study centers. Objective: We evaluated whether exposure misclassification, effect modification by medication, or differences in particle composition could explain the inconsistencies. Methods: Subjects with coronary heart disease visited clinics biweekly in Amsterdam, the Netherlands ; Erfurt, Germany ; and Helsinki, Finland for 68 months. The standard deviation (SD) of NN intervals on an electrocardiogram (ECG ; SDNN) and high frequency (HF) power of HRV was measured with ambulatory ECG during paced breathing. Outdoor levels of PM2.5 were measured at a central site. In Amsterdam and Helsinki, indoor and personal PM2.5 were measured during the 24 hr preceding the clinic visit. PM2.5 was apportioned between sources using principal component analyses. We analyzed associations of indoor/personal PM2.5, elements of PM2.5, and source-specific PM2.5 with HRV using linear regression. Results: Indoor and personal PM2.5 were not associated with HRV. Increased outdoor PM2.5 was associated with decreased SDNN and HF at lags of 2 and 3 days only among persons not using beta-blocker medication. Traffic-related PM2.5 was associated with decreased SDNN, and long-range transported PM2.5 with decreased SDNN and HF, most strongly among persons not using beta blockers. Indicators for PM2.5 from traffic and long-range transport were also associated with decreased HRV. Conclusions: Our results suggest that differences in the composition of particles, beta-blocker use, and obesity of study subjects may explain some inconsistencies among previous studies on HRV.

Abstract: Daily and seasonal variations in dry and wet atmospheric nitrogen fluxes have been studied during four campaigns between 2004 and 2006 at a coastal site of the Southern North Sea at De Haan (Belgium) located at coordinates of 51.1723° N and 3.0369° E. Concentrations of inorganic N-compounds were determined in the gaseous phase, size-segregated aerosol (coarse, medium, and fine), and rainwater samples. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was quantified in rainwater. The daily variations in N-fluxes of compounds were evaluated with air-mass backward trajectories, classified into the main air-masses arriving at the sampling site (i.e., continental, North Sea, and Atlantic/UK/Channel). The three, non-episodic campaigns showed broadly consistent fluxes, but during the late summer campaign exceptionally high episodic N-deposition was observed. The average dry and wet fluxes for non-episodic campaigns amounted to 2.6 and 4.0 mg N m−2 d−1, respectively, whereas during the episodic late summer period these fluxes were as high as 5.2 and 6.2 mg N m−2 d−1, respectively. Non-episodic seasons/campaigns experienced average aerosol fluxes of 0.91.4 mg N m−2 d−1. Generally, the contribution of aerosol NH4+ was more significant in the medium and fine particulate fractions than that of aerosol NO3−, whereas the latter contributed more in the coarse fraction, especially in continental air-masses. During the dry mid-summer campaign, the DON contributed considerably (15%) to the total N-budget. Exceptionally high episodic aerosol-N inputs have been observed for the late summer campaign, with especially high deposition rates of 3.6 and 2.9 mg N m−2 d−1 for Atlantic/UK/Channel and North Sea-continental (mixed) air-masses, respectively. During this pollution episode, the flux of NH4+ was dominating in each aerosol fraction/air-mass, except for coarse continental aerosols. High deposition of gaseous-N was also observed in this campaign with an average total N-flux of 22.5-times higher than in other campaigns.