Analysis of Particulate Matter Concentration Variability and Origin in Selected Urban Areas in Poland

Izabela Sówka, Anna Chlebowska-Styś, Łukasz Pachurka, Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska and Barbara Mathews
Additional contact information
Izabela Sówka: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland
Anna Chlebowska-Styś: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland
Łukasz Pachurka: Galwanizer Ltd., Swidnicka Str. 38, 58-200 Dzierzoniow, Poland
Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska: The Main School of Fire Service, Słowackiego Str. 52/54, 01-629 Warsaw, Poland
Barbara Mathews: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze, M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 34 Str., 41-819 Zabrze, Poland

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: The work presents the results of research and analyses related to measurements of concentration and chemical composition of three size fractions of particulate matter (PM), PM 10 , PM 2.5 and PM 1.0 . The studies were conducted in the years 2014–2016 during both the heating and non-heating season in two Polish cities: Wrocław and Poznań. The studies indicate that in Wrocław and Poznań, the highest annual concentrations of particulate matter (PM 1.0 , PM 2.5 , and PM 10 ) were observed in 2016, and the mean concentrations were respectively equal to 18.16 μg/m 3 , 30.88 μg/m 3 and 41.08 μg/m 3 (Wrocław) and 8.5 μg/m 3 , 30.8 μg/m 3 and 32.9 μg/m 3 (Poznań). Conducted analyses of the chemical composition of the particulate matter also indicated higher concentrations of organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), and water-soluble ions in a measurement series which took place in the heating season were studied. Analyses with the use of principal component analysis (PCA) indicated a dominating percentage of fuel combustion processes as sources of particulate matter emission in the areas considered in this research. Acquired results from these analyses may indicate the influence of secondary aerosols on air quality. In the summer season, a significant role could be also played by an influx of pollutants—mineral dust—originating from outside the analyzed areas or from the resuspension of mineral and soil dust.

Keywords: PM 10; PM 2.5; PM 1.0; chemical composition; PCA; water-soluble ions; elemental and organic carbon; Wrocław; Poznań (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5735/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5735/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5735-:d:277282

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().