Transport of traffic-related aerosols in urban areas

This study was undertaken to assess the influence of traffic on particulate air pollution in an urban area, and to characterise the short-range transport of the aerosols generated by traffic. The study was conducted in Kraków, a city located in southern Poland with a population of approximately 800,000. Aerosol samples were collected using automatic sampling equipment at five sites located at different distances from the main road in Kraków, ranging from 5 to 1500 m. The sampling set-up allowed standardisation of the results due to continuous determination of the meteorological parameters (temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall and humidity). Aerosol particles were separated according to aerodynamic diameter into two size fractions: > 1.9 microm (coarse fraction); and 1.9-72 microm (fine fraction). The concentrations of 27 elements were measured in both size fractions (Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, Pb). The multielement analyses were performed by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) spectrometry. Traffic contribution to particulate air pollution was determined on the basis of 13 elements which were present above the detection limit in all samples (Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb). It was found that the traffic contribution in the coarse size fraction was approximately 80% up to 150 m from the road; it dropped abruptly by a factor of 2 over a distance of 150-200 m and declined further to 20% at 1500 m from the road. Traffic contribution for the fine particle concentrations of individual elements was 50-70% in the close vicinity of the road (5 m); then there was a decrease, followed by an increase at a greater distance from the road. Possible explanations for this behaviour of the fine particles are given.