Long-Term Assessment of Air Quality and Identification of Aerosol Sources at Setúbal, Portugal

Alexandra Viana Silva, Cristina M. Oliveira, Nuno Canha, Ana Isabel Miranda and Susana Marta Almeida
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Alexandra Viana Silva: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, Km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal
Cristina M. Oliveira: Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Nuno Canha: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, Km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal
Ana Isabel Miranda: Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Departamento de Ambiente e Ordenamento, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Susana Marta Almeida: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, Km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-23

Abstract: Understanding air pollution in urban areas is crucial to identify mitigation actions that may improve air quality and, consequently, minimize human exposure to air pollutants and their impact. This study aimed to assess the temporal evolution of the air quality in the city of Setúbal (Portugal) during a time period of 10 years (2003–2012), by evaluating seasonal trends of air pollutants (PM 10 , PM 2.5 , O 3 , NO, NO 2 and NO x ) measured in nine monitoring stations. In order to identify emission sources of particulate matter, PM 2.5 and PM 2.5–10 were characterized in two different areas (urban traffic and industrial) in winter and summer and, afterwards, source apportionment was performed by means of Positive Matrix Factorization. Overall, the air quality has been improving over the years with a decreasing trend of air pollutant concentration, with the exception of O 3 . Despite this improvement, levels of PM 10 , O 3 and nitrogen oxides still do not fully comply with the requirements of European legislation, as well as with the guideline values of the World Health Organization (WHO). The main anthropogenic sources contributing to local PM levels were traffic, industry and wood burning, which should be addressed by specific mitigation measures in order to minimize their impact on the local air quality.

Keywords: air pollutants; particulate matter; monitoring; seasonality; chemical characterization; source apportionment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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