Physical–chemical characterisation of the particulate matter inside\ud two road tunnels in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area

The notable increase in biofuel usage by the road\ud transportation sector in Brazil during recent years has significantly\ud altered the vehicular fuel composition. Consequently,\ud many uncertainties are currently found in particulate\ud matter vehicular emission profiles. In an effort to better\ud characterise the emitted particulate matter, measurements\ud of aerosol physical and chemical properties were undertaken\ud inside two tunnels located in the São Paulo Metropolitan\ud Area (SPMA). The tunnels show very distinct fleet profiles:\ud in the Jânio Quadros (JQ) tunnel, the vast majority\ud of the circulating fleet are light duty vehicles (LDVs), fuelled\ud on average with the same amount of ethanol as gasoline.\ud In the Rodoanel (RA) tunnel, the particulate emission\ud is dominated by heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) fuelled with\ud diesel (5% biodiesel). In the JQ tunnel, PM2.5 concentration\ud was on average 52 μgm−3, with the largest contribution\ud of organic mass (OM, 42 %), followed by elemental carbon\ud (EC, 17 %) and crustal elements (13 %). Sulphate accounted\ud for 7% of PM2.5 and the sum of other trace elements\ud was 10%. In the RA tunnel, PM2.5 was on average\ud 233 μgm−3, mostly composed of EC (52 %) and OM\ud (39 %). Sulphate, crustal and the trace elements showed a\ud minor contribution with 5 %, 1 %, and 1 %, respectively. The\ud average OC: EC ratio in the JQ tunnel was 1.59±0.09, indicating\ud an important contribution of EC despite the high\ud ethanol fraction in the fuel composition. In the RA tunnel,\ud the OC: EC ratio was 0.49±0.12, consistent with previous\ud measurements of diesel-fuelled HDVs. Besides bulk carbonaceous\ud aerosol measurement, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons\ud (PAHs) were quantified. The sum of the PAHs concentration\ud was 56±5 ngm−3 and 45±9 ngm−3 in the RA\ud and JQ tunnel, respectively. In the JQ tunnel, benzo(a)pyrene\ud (BaP) ranged from 0.9 to 6.7 ngm−3 (0.02–0. 1‰of PM2.5)\ud whereas in the RA tunnel BaP ranged from 0.9 to 4.9 ngm−3\ud (0.004–0. 02‰ of PM2.5), indicating an important relative\ud contribution of LDVs emission to atmospheric BaP.\ud Real-time measurements performed in both tunnels provided\ud aerosol size distributions and optical properties. The\ud average particle count yielded 73 000 cm−3 in the JQ tunnel\ud and 366 000 cm−3 in the RA tunnel, with an average diameter\ud of 48 nm in the former and 39 nm in the latter. Aerosol single\ud scattering albedo, calculated from scattering and absorption\ud observations in the JQ tunnel, indicates a value of 0.5 associated\ud with LDVs. Such single scattering albedo is 20–50%\ud higher than observed in previous tunnel studies, possibly as a\ud result of the large biofuel usage. Given the exceedingly high\ud equivalent black carbon loadings in the RA tunnel, real time\ud light absorption measurements were possible only in the JQ\ud tunnel. Nevertheless, using EC measured from the filters, a\ud single scattering albedo of 0.31 for the RA tunnel has been\ud estimated. The results presented here characterise particulate\ud matter emitted from nearly 1 million vehicles fuelled with a\ud considerable amount of biofuel, providing a unique experimental\ud site worldwideFAPESP - 2008/58104-8CNPq - 402383/2009-

Cashew nut roasting: chemical characterization of particulate matter\ud and genotocixity analysis

Background: Particulate matter (PM) potentially harmful to health and related to genotoxic events, an increase in the number of hospitalizations and mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.\ud The present study conducted the first characterization of elemental composition and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) analysis of PM, as well as the biomonitoring of genotoxic activity associated to artesanal cashew nut roasting, an importante economic and social activity worldwide.\ud Methods: The levels of PM2.5 and black carbon were also measured by gravimetric analysis and light reflectance. The elementa lcomposition was determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and PAH analysis was carried out by gás chromatography–mass spectrometry. Genotoxic activity was measured by the Tradescantia pallida micronucleus bioassay (Trad-MCN).Other biomarkers of DNA damage, such as núcleoplasmic bridges and nuclear fragments, were also quantified. Results: The mean amount of PM2.5 accumulated in the filters (January 2124.2 mg/m3; May 1022.2 mg/m3;\ud September 1291.9 mg/m3), black carbon(January 363.6 mg/m3; May70 mg/m3; September 69.4 mg/m3) and concentrations of Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca ,Ti,Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Br and Pb were significantly higher than the non-exposed area. Biomass burning tracers K,Cl, and S were the major inorganic compounds found. Benzo[k]fluoranthene, indene[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, phenanthrene and benzo[b]fluor-\ud anthene were the most abundant PAHs. Mean benzo[a]pyrene-equivalent carcinogenic power values showed a significant câncer risk. The Trad-MCN bioassay revealed an increase in micronucleus frequency, 2–7 times higher than the negative control and significantly higher in all the months analyzed, possibly related to the mutagenic PAHs found.\ud Conclusions: This study demonstrated that artesanal cashew nut roasting is a serious occupational problem, with harmful effects on workers' health. Those involved in this activity are exposed to higher PM2.5 concentrations and to 12 PAHs considered potentially mutagenic and/or carcinogenic. The Trad-MCN with T. pallida was sensitive and efficient in evaluating the genotoxicity of the components and other nuclear alterations may be used as effective biomarkers of DNA damage.CNPq - 555223/2006-

Comparison of the n-Alkanes and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Concentrations in the Atmosphere during the Preparation of Warm and Hot Mixtures Asphalt for Pavements

Asphalt binder is used in the production of hot mixes asphalt (HMA) for paving and, due to the high temperatures used, generates fumes thatcontainn-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Asphalt mixes prepared at lower temperatures, such as warm mixes asphalt (WMA), may contribute to reduce the emissions of those compounds and save energy. This paper investigatesn-alkanes and PAH in the total suspended particles during the preparation of WMA, in comparison with HMA, in laboratory. The results showed that the n-alkanes of the WMA and HMA presented C-max at n-C-26 and n-C-28, respectively; also, the total content of n-alkanes was higher for the HMA than forthe WMA. Besides, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[a]anthracene were the major PAH in the WMA, while the higher temperatures of the HMA were observed to volatilize all larger PAH, demonstrating higher potential of inhalation exposure.CAPES (Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior)Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)FAPESP (Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico) [2006/51476-1, 305815/2009-1]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq

A preliminary characterization of the mutagenicity of atmospheric particulate matter collected during sugar cane harvesting using the Salmonella/microsome microsuspension assay

During sugar cane harvesting season, which occurs from May to November of each year, the crops are burnt, cut, and transported to the mills. There are reports showing that mutagenic activity and PAH content increase during harvesting season in some areas of Sao Paulo State in comparison with nonharvesting periods. The objective of this work was to preliminarily characterize the mutagenic activity of the total organic extracts as well as corresponding organic fractions of airborne particulate matter (PM) collected twice from two cities, Araraquara (ARQ) and Piracicaba (PRB), during sugar cane harvesting season using the Salmonella/microsome microssuspension assay. One sample collected in Sao Paulo metropolitan area was also included. The mutagenicity of the total extracts ranged from 55 to 320 revertants per cubic meter without the addition of S9 and from not detected to 57 revertants per cubic meter in the presence of S9 in areas with sugar cane plantations. Of the three fractions analyzed, the most polar ones (nitro and oxy) were the most potent. A comparison of the response of TA98 with YG1041 and the increased potencies without S9 indicated that nitro compounds are causing the observed effect. More studies are necessary to verify the sources of the mutagenic activity such as burning of vegetal biomass and combustion of heavy duty vehicles used to transport the sugar cane to the mills. The Salmonella/microsome assay can be an important tool to monitor the atmosphere for mutagenicity during sugar cane harvesting season

Seasonal Distribution of Airborne Trace Elements and Water-Soluble Ions in Sao Paulo Megacity, Brazil

This study deals with the seasonal distribution of Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Pb and Zn and water soluble ions (Cl-, PO43-, NO3-, SO42-, HCOO-, CH3COO-, oxalate, succinate, Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+) found in PM10 samples (particulate matter less than 10 mu m in diameter) Sao Paulo City, Brazil, (April 2003-May 2004). Higher atmospheric levels were found for SO42-, NO3-, Cl- and PO43- while the main organic anions were oxalate and formate. Atmospheric levels for elements were: Fe > Al > Ca > K > Na > Mg > Zn > Cu > Pb. Some sources were predominant for some species: (i) fuel burning and/or biomass burning (NO3-, HCOO-, C2O42-, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe, Pb, Zn, Al, Ca, K and Mg), (ii) gas-to-particle conversion (SO42- and NH4+) and (iii) sea salt spray (Cl-, Na+ and Na).Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2001/01763-0]Conselho Nacional de Conselho Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Conselho Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)CNPqCNP

Genotoxicity and composition of particulate matter from biomass burning in the eastern Brazilian Amazon region

In the present study Tradescantia pallida micronucleus (Trad-MCN) bioassay was used to assess the genotoxicity of particulate matter with a mass median aerodynamic diameter less than 10 pm (PM(10)) in Tangara da Serra (MT), a Brazilian Amazon region that suffers the impact of biomass burning. The levels of PM (coarse and fine size fractions) and black carbon (BC) collected were also measured. Furthermore, the alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were identified and quantified in the samples taken during the burning period by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The PM and BC results for both fractions indicate a strong correlation (p < 0.001). The analysis of alkanes indicates an anthropic influence. Retene was the most abundant PAH found, an indicator of biomass burning, and 12 other PAHs considered to be potentially mutagenic and/or carcinogenic were identified in this sample. The Trad-MCN bioassay showed a significant increase in micronucleus frequency during the period of most intense burning, possibly related to the mutagenic PAHs that were found in such extracts. This study demonstrated that Trad-MCN was sensitive and efficient in evaluating the genotoxicity of organic compounds from biomass burning. It further emphasizes the importance of performing chemical analysis, because changes in chemical composition generally have a negative effect on many living organisms. This bioassay (ex situ), using T. pallida with chemical analysis, is thus recommended for characterizing the genotoxicity of air pollution. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.laboratories of Environmental Mutagenesis and Geneticslaboratories of Environmental Mutagenesis and GeneticsMolecular Biology of UFRNMolecular Biology of UFRNUniversidade de São Paulo (USP)Universidade de São Paulo - Physics and Chemical Institute of USPCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)CAPESCNPqConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Particle emission from heavy-duty engine fuelled with blended diesel and biodiesel

In this study, particulate matter (PM) were characterized from a place impacted by heavy-duty vehicles (Bus Station) fuelled with diesel/biodiesel fuel blend (B3) in the city of Londrina, Brazil. Sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) concentrations were analyzed in the samples by their association with atmospheric PM, mass size distributions and major ions (fluorite, chloride, bromide, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, nitrite, oxalate; fumarate, formate, succinate and acetate; lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and ammonium). Results indicate that major ions represented 21.2% particulate matter mass. Nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium, respectively, presented the highest concentration levels, indicating that biodiesel may also be a significant source for these ions, especially nitrate. Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene and indeno[1,2,3,-cd]pyrene were the main PAH found, and a higher fraction of PAH particles was found in diameters lower than 0.25 mu m in Londrina bus station. The fine and ultrafine particles were dominant among the PM evaluated, suggesting that biodiesel decreases the total PAH emission. However, it does also increase the fraction of fine and ultrafine particles when compared to diesel.National Institute of Science and Technology for Energy and Environment (INCTEA)National Institute of Science and Technology for Energy and Environment (INCT-EA) [15/2008