Traffic-generated changes in the chemical characteristics of size-segregated urban aerosols

The road traffic impact on the concentrations of 13 fractions of particulate matter (PM) and their components was assessed. PM was sampled at two points in Katowice (southern Poland), a background point beyond the effects of road traffic, and a near-highway traffic point. The samples were analyzed for organic and elemental carbon, 8 water-soluble ions, 24 elements, and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The traffic emissions (mainly particles from car exhaust) enriched the ultrafine, submicron, and fine PM particles with elemental carbon. The traffic-caused re-suspension of the road and soil dust affecting the concentrations and chemical composition of the coarse PM fraction. However, for each PM fraction, the carcinogenic equivalent ratios, assumed as a measure of the hazard from 16 PAHs in this paper, were similar at the two sampling points. The traffic emissions from the highway appeared to have a weaker influence on the concentrations and chemical composition of PM in a typical urban area of southern Poland than elsewhere in Europe.