Source apportionment of ultrafine and fine particles in Huelva industrial city

Comunicación presentada en: 2012 European Aerosol Conference (EAC-2012), B-WG01S2P30, celebrada del 2 al 7 de septiembre de 2012 en Granada

Geochemistry of atmospheric aerosols in Andalusia (Southern Spain)

Comunicación presentada en: V Reunión Española de Ciencia y Tecnología de Aerosoles – RECTA 2011 celebrada del 27 al 29 de junio de 2011 en CIEMAT, Madrid

Ultrafine particle and fine trace metal (As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) pollution episodes induced by industrial emissions in Huelva, SW Spain

Urban air quality impairment by ultrafine particles has become a matter of concern due to the adverse effects on human health. Most of the studies of ultrafine particles in urban air quality have focused on vehicle exhaust emissions. We studied how industrial emissions contribute to ultrafine particle concentrations in downwind urban ambient air. This research is based on experimental data collected in the ambient air of the industrial city of Huelva (SW Spain) over April 2008–December 2009 period (particle number, gaseous pollutants and black carbon concentrations and levels and chemical composition of PM10 and PM2.5 with daily and hourly resolution). This city is affected by emissions from the second largest Cu-smelter in Europe, phosphoric acid and fertilizer production plants and an oil refinery and petrochemical plant. Industrial emissions are the main cause of ultrafine particle episodes. When vehicle exhaust emissions are the main source, ultrafine particles typically show (24-h mean) concentrations within the range 14,700–5000 cm−3 (50th–1st), with 60% of these linked to this source and 30% to industrial emissions. In contrast, when daily mean levels of N are within the range 50,000–25,500 cm−3 (100th–70th), industrial and vehicle exhaust emissions accounted for 49 and 30%, respectively. High concentrations of toxic trace metals (As, Cu, Cd, Zn and Pb) were recorded when the study city suffered fumigations of the Cu-smelter plumes (e.g. 10–25 ng m−3 As, 1–2 ng m−3 Cd and >105 cm−3 of ultrafine particles). Because of these industrial emissions, ultrafine particle concentrations during daylight are about two times higher than those observed in other European cities. Recently, ultrafine particle emissions in vehicle exhausts have been subject to limit values in a recent stage of the EURO standards. Industrial emissions should also be considered.This study was carried out within the framework of several research projects: AER-REG (P07-RNM-03125; Regional Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise of the Andalusian Autonomous Government), SIMAND (P07-RNM-02729; Regional Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise of the Andalusian Autonomous Government); GRACCIE (CSD2007-00067; Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain), EPAU (B026/2007/3-10.1; the Spanish Ministry of the Environment) and P11-RNM-7800 (Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science of the Andalusian Autonomous Government)

Trends of road dust emissions contributions on ambient air particulate levels at rural, urban and industrial sites in southern Spain

The impact of road dust emissions on PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 (atmospheric particulate matter with diameteer < 10 μm and 2.5 μm mass concentrations recorded from 2003 to 2010 at 11 locations (rural, urban and industrial) in southern Spain was estimated based on the chemical characterization of PM and the use of a constrained Positive Matrix Factorization, where the chemical profile of local road dust samples is used as a priori knowledge. Results indicate that road dust increased PM₁₀ levels on average by 21–35% at traffic sites, 29–34% at urban background sites heavily affected by road traffic emissions, 17–22% at urban-industrial sites and 9–22% at rural sites. Road dust contributions to ambient PM levels show a marked seasonality with maxima in summer and minima in winter, likely due to the rainfall frequency. Decreasing concentration trends over the sampling years were found at some traffic and urban sites but in most cases the decreases were less significant than for vehicle exhaust emissions, while concentrations increased at industrial sites, probably due to local peculiarities. Concerning PM_2.5, road dust contributions were lower than in PM₁₀, as expected but still important (21–31%, 11–31%, 6–16% and 7% for traffic, urban background, urban-industrial and rural sites, respectively). In addition the three main sources of road dust (carbonaceous particles, brake wear and road wear/mineral) were identified and their contributions to road dust mass loadings estimated, supporting the idea that air quality managers should drive measures aimed at preventing the build-up of road dust particles on roads

Aerosol properties of the Eyjafjallajökull ash derived from sun photometer and satellite observations over the Iberian Peninsula

The Eyjafjallajökull ash that crossed over Spain and Portugal on 6e12 May 2010 has been monitored by a set of operational sun photometer sites within AERONET-RIMA and satellite sensors. The sun photometer observations (aerosol optical depth, coarse mode concentrations) and ash products from IASI and SEVIRI satellite sensors, together with FLEXPART simulations of particle transport, allow identifying the volcanic aerosols. The aerosol columnar properties derived from inversions were investigated, indicating specific properties, especially regarding the absorption. The single scattering albedo was high (0.95 at 440 nm) and nearly wavelength independent, although with slight decrease with wavelength. Other parameters, like the fine mode fraction of the volume size distributions (0.20e0.80) or the portion of spherical particles (15e90%), were very variable among the sites and indicated that the various ash clouds were inhomogeneous with respect to particle size and shape

Urban NH3 levels and sources in six major Spanish cities

A detailed spatial and temporal assessment of urban NH3 levels and potential emission sources was made with passive samplers in six major Spanish cities (Barcelona, Madrid, A Coruña, Huelva, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia). Measurements were conducted during two different periods (winter–autumn and spring–summer) in each city. Barcelona showed the clearest spatial pattern, with the highest concentrations in the old city centre, an area characterised by a high population density and a dense urban architecture. The variability in NH3 concentrations did not follow a common seasonal pattern across the different cities. The relationship of urban NH3 with SO2 and NOX allowed concluding on the causes responsible for the variations in NH3 levels between measurement periods observed in Barcelona, Huelva and Madrid. However, the factors governing the variations in A Coruña, Valencia and Santa Cruz de Tenerife are still not fully understood. This study identified a broad variability in NH3 concentrations at the city-scale, and it confirms that NH3 sources in Spanish urban environments are vehicular traffic, biological sources (e.g. garbage containers), wastewater treatment plants, solid waste treatment plants and industry. The importance of NH3 monitoring in urban environments relies on its role as a precursor of secondary inorganic species and therefore PMX. Further research should be addressed in order to establish criteria to develop and implement mitigation strategies for cities, and to include urban NH3 sources in the emission inventories