Intraurban and Longitudinal Variability of Classical Pollutants in Kraków, Poland, 2000–2010

Hyunok Choi, Steven Melly and John Spengler
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Hyunok Choi: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, One University Place, Rm 153, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA
Steven Melly: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University School of Public Health, 3215 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
John Spengler: Exposure, Epidemiology and Risk Program, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, P.O. Box 15677, Landmark 406 West, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA 02215, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-25

Abstract: In spite of a dramatic decrease in anthropogenic emissions, ambient concentrations of major pollutants have not changed within many urban locations. To clarify the relationship between ambient air quality trend and the population exposures, we compared the intraurban versus temporal variability of the collocated measurements of five major air pollutants including particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter <10 µm (PM 10 ), < 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ), tropospheric ozone (O 3 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), in Kraków, Poland, during the 2000-2010 period. Strong seasonal trends and overall absence of spatial heterogeneity in PM 10 and PM 2.5 , except in the traffic monitoring site, were observed across the monitoring network. The range of median PM 2.5 concentrations during winter (54–64 µg/m 3 ) was 3- to 4-times higher than the summer medians (15–26 µg/m 3 ) across the sites during 2009-2010. Furthermore, large proportion of PM 10 appears to be comprised of PM 2.5 (PM 2.5 /PM 10 concentration ratios range, 0.5–0.7). At each monitoring site, the Pearson’s correlation coefficients between PM 2.5 and PM 10 ranged between 0.944 and 0.963, suggesting a health-relevance of PM 10 monitoring. One ln-unit increase in PM 10 was associated with 92%–100% increase in PM 2.5 concentrations in the same location. While PM 10 did not demonstrate a clear temporal trend, SO 2 concentrations steadily declined by 40% during the 2000–2010 period. Summertime median NO 2 concentration was acutely elevated ?(70 mg/m 3 vs. 22 mg/m 3 ) at the traffic oriented site compared to the city’s central monitoring site. The traffic and the industrial sites were associated with highest number of days during which 24-hour mean PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations exceeded the European Union standard. Steadily growing contributions by vehicular emissions appear to be associated with the absence of clear trend in PM 10 . Current practices of air quality control within Kraków may not be adequate for the protection of the public’s health.

Keywords: air pollution; Krakow; coal combustion; exposure misclassification; exposure assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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