Journal
WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION
Volume 179, Issue 1-4, Pages 227-237Publisher
SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG
DOI: 10.1007/s11270-006-9227-6
Keywords
PM2.5; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; air pollution; urban environment; on-road mobile pollution sources
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PM2.5 and PAHs bound to PM2.5 were investigated in downtown Bologna, from January to June 2003, in order to determine the burden of the fine fraction in the aerosol of a typical urban environment of the Po Valley, a critical area in Northern Italy in terms of atmospheric pollution. The sampling campaign was divided into three parts: a winter sub-campaign, an intermediate campaign where PM2.5 and PM10 were simultaneously sampled and which identified PM2.5 as the major component of PM10, and a summer sub-campaign. Critical concentrations of both PM2.5 and PAHs were observed in winter time; for example, in January 2003 the mean value for the 24-h average PM2.5 concentration was 58 mu g/m(3), much higher than the annual arithmetic mean of 15 mu g/m(3) established by the US ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Correspondingly, the mean value for benzo[a]pyrene (BAP) in PM2.5 was 1.79 ng/m(3), again higher than the annual mean of 1 ng/m(3), required by European regulations for BAP in PM10. In summer time the BAP concentration considerably decreases to 0.10 ng/m(3) as the likely effect of photolysis and dilution on a higher boundary layer; PM2.5 decreases too, but the mean concentration (22 mu g/m(3)) is still higher than the NAAQS value. Further analysis included TEM microscopy of collected particles and correlations between PM2.5, PAHs and gases (benzene, O-3, CO, NO2, SO2). All these observations identified on-road mobile sources as the main source of emissions and, in general, of the poor air quality level in the city of Bologna.
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