TY - JOUR AB - Ship emissions are a major cause of global air pollution, and in particular, emissions from the combustion of bunker fuels, such as heavy fuel oil (HFO), show strong impacts on the environment and human health. Therefore, sophisticated measurement techniques are needed for monitoring. We present here an approach to remotely investigating ship exhaust plumes through onboard measurements from a research vessel in the Baltic Sea. The ship exhaust plumes were detected from a distance of ~5 km by rapid changes in particle number concentration and a variation in the ambient particle size distribution utilizing a condensation particle counter (CPC) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) instrument. Ambient single particles in the size range of 0.2–2.5 µm were qualitatively characterized with respect to their chemical signature by single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS). In particular, the high sensitivity of the measurement method for transition metals in particulate matter (PM) was used to distinguish between the different marine fuels. Despite the high complexity of the ambient aerosol and the adverse conditions at sea, the exhaust plumes of several ships could be analyzed by means of the online instrumentation. AU - Rosewig, E.I.* AU - Schade, J.* AU - Passig, J. AU - Osterholz, H.* AU - Irsig, R.* AU - Smok, D.* AU - Gawlitta, N. AU - Schnelle-Kreis, J. AU - Hovorka, J.* AU - Schulz-Bull, D.* AU - Zimmermann, R. AU - Adam, T. C1 - 68170 C2 - 53614 CY - St Alban-anlage 66, Ch-4052 Basel, Switzerland TI - Remote detection of different marine fuels in exhaust plumes by onboard measurements in the Baltic Sea using single-particle mass spectrometry. JO - Atmosphere VL - 14 IS - 5 PB - Mdpi PY - 2023 SN - 2073-4433 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The results of the study on the characteristics of the viable (culturable) and total bacterial particles in the ambient air in Gliwice, Poland, are presented. The concentration of viable bacteria in the air ranged from 57 CFU m−3 (Colony Forming Units per cubic meter) during winter to 305 CFU m−3 in spring, while the concentration of all bacteria (live and dead) in the air, measured in selected days, ranged from 298 cells m−3 in winter to over 25 thousand per m3 in autumn. A field study was also carried out to find out the level of the sterilization rate (k) for airborne bacteria. The obtained value of k for viable bacteria exposed to UV solar radiation in Gliwice was approximately 10 cm2 W−1s−1. The patterns of the size distributions of viable bacteria found in three seasons, spring, summer, and autumn, were similar, showing a peak in the range of 3.3–4.7 µm. In the winter season, the main peak was shifted into the smaller particles with an aerodynamic diameter ranging from 2.1 to 4.7 µm. The dominant group of culturable bacteria within the studied period was Gram-positive rods-forming endospores (34–55%), while the least frequent were Gram-negative rods (2%). This research can be used to assess the health effects of exposure to bacterial aerosols in people living in this area. AU - Kowalski, M. AU - Pastuszka, J.S.* AU - Brąszewska, A.* AU - Cyrys, J. AU - Brągoszewska, E.* C1 - 66527 C2 - 52981 TI - Airborne bacteria in gliwice—the industrialized city in Poland. JO - Atmosphere VL - 13 IS - 10 PY - 2022 SN - 2073-4433 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic and hazardous volatile environmental pollutants that have been studied as possible major causative agents of lung cancer in Xuanwei. In this paper, indoor and outdoor PM2.5 samples were collected from two homes at different time periods in Hutou, the lung cancer epidemic area in Xuanwei. The results showed that PAH pollution levels from coal combustion in Xuanwei lung cancer epidemic area were significant. The mass concentrations of total PAHs, major carcinogenic compounds, and benzo[a]pyrene-based equivalent concentration (BaPeq) were significantly higher in the coal-using home than in the electricity-using home. For the coal-using home, the PAHs were mainly derived from coal combustion. For the electricity-using home, the PAHs might have been a combination of traffic and coal combustion sources. The human health risk due to inhalation exposure to the PAHs was represented by the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) of the inhalation exposure. The results showed that the indoor cancer risk for the coal-using home in Xuanwei is higher than that of the electricity-using home and much higher than that of Chinese megacities such as Beijing and Tianjin. Long-term exposure to indoor coal-burning environments containing high levels of PAHs may be one of the main reasons for the high incidence of lung cancer in Xuanwei. AU - Zhang, M.* AU - Shao, L.* AU - Jones, T.P.* AU - Feng, X.* AU - Schnelle-Kreis, J. AU - Cao, Y.* AU - BéruBé, K.A.* C1 - 66526 C2 - 53202 TI - Concentration, source, and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: A pilot study in the Xuanwei lung cancer epidemic area, Yunnan Province, China JO - Atmosphere VL - 13 IS - 10 PY - 2022 SN - 2073-4433 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Airborne pollen concentrations vary depending on the location of the pollen trap with respect to the pollen sources. Two Hirst-type pollen traps were analyzed within the city of Munich (Germany): one trap was located 2 m above ground level (AGL) and the other one at rooftop (35 m AGL), 4.2 km apart. In general, 1.4 +/- 0.5 times higher pollen amounts were measured by the trap located at ground level, but this effect was less than expected considering the height difference between the traps. Pollen from woody trees such as Alnus, Betula, Corylus, Fraxinus, Picea, Pinus and Quercus showed a good agreement between the traps in terms of timing and intensity. Similar amounts of pollen were recorded in the two traps when pollen sources were more abundant outside of the city. In contrast, pollen concentrations from Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, Carpinus and Tilia were influenced by nearby pollen sources. The representativeness of both traps for herbaceous pollen depended on the dispersal capacity of the pollen grains, and in the case of Poaceae pollen, nearby pollen sources may influence the pollen content in the air. The timing of the pollen season was similar for both sites; however, the season for some pollen types ended later at ground level probably due to resuspension processes that would favor recirculation of pollen closer to ground level. We believe measurements from the higher station provides a picture of background pollen levels representative of a large area, to which local sources add additional and more variable pollen amounts. AU - Rojo, J. AU - Oteros, J. AU - Picornell, A.* AU - Ruëff, F.* AU - Werchan, B.* AU - Werchan, M.* AU - Bergmann, K.C.* AU - Schmidt-Weber, C.B. AU - Buters, J.T.M. C1 - 58586 C2 - 48364 CY - St Alban-anlage 66, Ch-4052 Basel, Switzerland TI - Land-use and height of pollen sampling affect pollen exposure in Munich, Germany. JO - Atmosphere VL - 11 IS - 2 PB - Mdpi PY - 2020 SN - 2073-4433 ER -