Vertical Variation of PM2.5 Mass and Chemical Composition, Particle Size Distribution, NO2, and BTEX at a High Rise Building
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Authors
Colleges, School and Institutes
External organisations
- Regional Centre for Environment and Health
- Provincial District of Ravenna, ARPAE Emilia-Romagna, Via Giulio Alberoni 17, 48121 Ravenna, Italy
- Department of Science and High Technology, Universita degli Studi dell'Insubria, Via Valleggio 11 22100 Como, Italy
- Department of Environmental Sciences / Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80203, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
- Regional Centre for Urban Areas
- ARPA Emilia-Romagna
- ARPA Emilia-Romagna
Abstract
Substantial efforts have been made in recent years to investigate the horizontal variability of air pollutants at regional and urban scales and epidemiological studies have taken advantage of resulting improvements in exposure assessment. On the contrary, only a few studies have investigated the vertical variability and their results are not consistent. In this study, a field experiment has been conducted to evaluate the variation of concentrations of different particle metrics and gaseous pollutants on the basis of floor height at a high rise building. Two 15-day monitoring campaigns were conducted in the urban area of Bologna, Northern Italy, one of the most polluted areas in Europe. Measurements sites were operated simultaneously at 2, 15, 26, 44 and 65 m a.g.l. Several particulate matter metrics including PM2.5 mass and chemical composition, particle number concentration and size distribution were measured. Time integrated measurement of NO2 and BTEX were also included in the monitoring campaigns. Measurements showed relevant vertical gradients for most traffic related pollutants. A monotonic gradient of PM2.5 was found with ground-to-top differences of 4% during the warm period and 11% during the cold period. Larger gradients were found for UFP (~30% during both seasons) with a substantial loss of particles from ground to top in the sub-50 nm size range. The largest drops in concentrations for chemical components were found for Elemental Carbon (-27%), iron (-11%) and tin (-36%) during winter. The ground-to-top decline of concentrations for NO2 and benzene during winter was equal to 74% and 35%, respectively. In conclusion, our findings emphasize the need to include vertical variations of urban air pollutants when evaluating population exposure and associated health effects, especially in relation to some traffic related pollutants and particle metrics.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 339-349 |
Journal | Environmental Pollution |
Volume | 235 |
Early online date | 4 Jan 2018 |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2018 |
Keywords
- PM2.5, Size distribution, Chemical composition, Exposure, Vertical variability