Considerations concerning air pollution with pahs of particulate matters from urban areas with intense road traffic

Abstract

From the potential air pollutants from big urbane areas in the last years special attention is given to particulate maters, which are found among the “six criteria polluters” as they were named by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) next to the ozone, carbon oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and led, due to the risk they can pose to human health and the environment. Of interest to the environment and population health are the PM 10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of up to 10 µm) and PM 2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of up to 2.5 µm) dust fractions, and their monitoring in the environmental air is controlled by the legislation all around the world, the PM 2.5 falling in the category of breathable dusts which can enter and accumulate in the respiratory system at the pulmonary alveolus level, causing serious health problems.The toxic degree of the particulate maters is amplified by the presence in their structure of other harmful chemical compounds from which the most important are heavy metals and PAH-s. The paper presents the test results in 2010, in two monitoring campaigns for PAHs concentration in particulate matter PM 10, PM 2.5 and total suspended particulates in the air, in Razoare, one of the crowded intersections from Bucharest. Thus, the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulate matter in air varies greatly with temperature, the concentrations being 10 -15 times higher than in winter. In terms of distribution in dimensional fractions, the obtained data showed 90% of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are present in PM2.5 fraction, thus indicating the traffic as the priority source of pollution with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the areas with heavy urban traffic.