Resuspended dust episodes as an urban air-quality problem in subarctic regions

This paper describes the resuspension of road dust in an urban subarctic environment and focuses especially on the effect of wind speed on the formation of resuspended dust episodes.

The study was conducted in Kuopio, Finland, in the spring of 1995. There were 36 daily measurements of mass concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), thoracic particulate matter (PM10), total suspended particulate matter, black carbon and carbon monoxide; size-segregated number concentrations of particles (diameter range 0.01-10 microm); and meteorological parameters. Total elemental compositions of PM2.5 and PM10 samples were analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

The mass and number concentrations of particles in all the size ranges and the concentrations of soil-derived (iron) and combustion-derived (vanadium and lead) elements in the PM2.5 and PM10 increased during the dust episodes. The daily average wind speed dually affected the episodes. The pollutant concentrations increased at wind speeds of <4 m/s and >5 m/s. The former was related to inversion-type conditions characterized by low wind speeds, while the latter was likely to be due to wind-blown resuspended dust. Resuspended lead accounted for an average of 27% of the total lead, and resuspended vanadium for 46% of the total vanadium in PM2.5.

Resuspended dust episodes were related to both low and high wind speeds, and the relationship suggests that factors other than wind speed, such as turbulence induced by traffic, affect the emergence of such episodes. The contribution of elevated levels of crustal material and toxic metals in resuspended PM2.5 to human adverse health effects should be investigated.