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Temporal variations of atmospheric aerosol in four European urban areas

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Abstract

Purpose

The concentrations of PM10 mass, PM2.5 mass and particle number were continuously measured for 18 months in urban background locations across Europe to determine the spatial and temporal variability of particulate matter.

Methods

Daily PM10 and PM2.5 samples were continuously collected from October 2002 to April 2004 in background areas in Helsinki, Athens, Amsterdam and Birmingham. Particle mass was determined using analytical microbalances with precision of 1 μg. Pre- and post-reflectance measurements were taken using smoke-stain reflectometers. One-minute measurements of particle number were obtained using condensation particle counters.

Results

The 18-month mean PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations ranged from 15.4 μg/m3 in Helsinki to 56.7 μg/m3 in Athens and from 9.0 μg/m3 in Helsinki to 25.0 μg/m3 in Athens, respectively. Particle number concentrations ranged from 10,091 part/cm3 in Helsinki to 24,180 part/cm3 in Athens with highest levels being measured in winter. Fine particles accounted for more than 60% of PM10 with the exception of Athens where PM2.5 comprised 43% of PM10. Higher PM mass and number concentrations were measured in winter as compared to summer in all urban areas at a significance level p < 0.05.

Conclusions

Significant quantitative and qualitative differences for particle mass across the four urban areas in Europe were observed. These were due to strong local and regional characteristics of particulate pollution sources which contribute to the heterogeneity of health responses. In addition, these findings also bear on the ability of different countries to comply with existing directives and the effectiveness of mitigation policies.

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Acknowledgements

The study was done within the framework of the “Relationship between Ultrafine and fine Particulate matter in Indoor and Outdoor air and respiratory Health (RUPIOH)” project. The project was funded by the EU Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources programme, contract QLRT-2001-00452.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Maria Lianou, Marie-Cecile Chalbot, Ilias G. Kavouras & Anastasia Kotronarou

  2. ELFE Unite Mixte, INED/INSERM, 133 Blvd Davout, Paris Cedex 20, 75890, France

    Ilias G. Kavouras

  3. National Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

    Anna Karakatsani, Antonis Analytis & Klea Katsouyanni

  4. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

    Arto Puustinen

  5. Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Kaarle Hameri

  6. University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Marko Vallius

  7. Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Kuopio, Finland

    Juha Pekkanen

  8. Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Claire Meddings & Roy M. Harrison

  9. Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Jon G. Ayres

  10. Energy Research Center of The Netherlands, Petten, The Netherlands

    Harry ten Brick & Gerard Kos

  11. Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Kees Meliefste, Jeroen de Hartog & Gerard Hoek

Authors
  1. Maria Lianou
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  2. Marie-Cecile Chalbot
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  3. Ilias G. Kavouras
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  4. Anastasia Kotronarou
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  5. Anna Karakatsani
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  6. Antonis Analytis
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  7. Klea Katsouyanni
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  8. Arto Puustinen
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  9. Kaarle Hameri
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  10. Marko Vallius
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  11. Juha Pekkanen
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  12. Claire Meddings
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  13. Roy M. Harrison
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  14. Jon G. Ayres
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  15. Harry ten Brick
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  16. Gerard Kos
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  17. Kees Meliefste
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  18. Jeroen de Hartog
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  19. Gerard Hoek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilias G. Kavouras.

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Responsible editor: Euripides Stephanou

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Lianou, M., Chalbot, MC., Kavouras, I.G. et al. Temporal variations of atmospheric aerosol in four European urban areas. Environ Sci Pollut Res 18, 1202–1212 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0471-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0471-y

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