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Brauer, Michael (Of University of British Columbia); Dumyahn, Thomas S.; Spengler, John D.; Gutschmidt, Kersten; Heinrich, Joachim; Wichmann, Heinz-Erich

A large number of studies have indicated associations between particulate air pollution and adverse health outcomes. Wintertime air pollution in particular has been associated with increased mortality. Identification of causal constituents of inhalable particulate matter has been elusive, although one candidate has been the acidity of the aerosol. Here we report measurements of acidic aerosol species made for approximately 1.5 years in Erfurt, Germany, and Sokolov, Czech Republic. In both locations, the burning of high-sulfur coal is the primary source of ambient air pollution. Twenty-four-hour average measurements were made for PM₁₀,[particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter (da) ≤10 ㎛], as well as fine particle(da) <2.5 ㎛) H⁺ and SO²-/₄ for the entire study. Additionally, separate day and night measurements of fine particle H⁺, SO²-/₄, NO₃, and NH₄⁺ and the gases, SO₂, HNO₃, HONO, and NH₃ were collected with an annular denuder/filter pack system over a 7-month (late winter-summer) period with additional measurements during pollution episodes the following winter. At both sites, 24-hr SO₂ (mean concentrations of 52 μg/m³, with peak levels of >585 μg/m³) and PM₁₀ (mean concentration of 60 μg m³) concentrations were quite high. However, aerosol SO²-/₄ concentrations (mean concentration of approximately 10 μg/m³) were not as great as expected given the high SO₂ concentrations, and acidity was very low (mean concentration of <1 μg/m³, with peak levels of only 7 μg/m³). Low acidity is likely to be the result of NH3 neutralization and slow conversion of SO₂ to SO²-/₄. These data, along with evidence that aerosol acidity exposures are significantly lower than ambient levels and the reported association between fine particulate air pollution and health outcomes in regions where little aerosol acidity has been measured, suggest that particulate acidity alone is not the primary component defining fine particulate air pollution toxicity.

Europe, Eastern

Text

2015-10-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/54812

Brauer M, Dumyahn TS, Spengler JD, Gutschmidt K, Heinrich J, Wichmann HE. Environ Health Perspect. 1995 May;103(5):482-8.

Faculty

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/